Using AI and big data to combat shitstorms and protect riders from abusive social media accounts at the World Cup final

The World Badminton Association uses it, as does the Japanese national baseball team, the International Cycling Union (UCI), the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Irish Rugby Union: the Threat Matrix software from the London-based tech company Signify. The company claims to stand for positive and actionable communication. One area that the FEI hopes to achieve with the pilot project at the World Cup Final is to curb shit storms on social media.

Marketing is one of the company’s main areas of activity. “We work across a range of industries including media, finance, charities and sport. With our unbiased insights, we get to the heart of what moves your target audiences, what makes them take notice and act, buy or sign up.”

FEI wants to take action against shit storms and hate speech on social media

Big data and artificial intelligence are the most important components that Signify uses. The “Threat Matrix” offering is in the portfolio for the sports sector. The software is designed to detect hate speech and other attacks directed against athletes on social media. The main aim is to identify the perpetrators so that action can be taken against them. “Players and their families need support and protection to detect, prevent and report abuse. Threat Matrix provides this service by removing the anonymity of those affected and ensuring that perpetrators do not go unpunished,” writes Signify in the self-promotion on its homepage.

Dressage and show jumping riders asked for protection against social media attacks

When asked by EQUI PAGES, Sabrina Ibañez, Secretary General of the FEI, explained the concept. The idea was suggested by the International Jumping and Dressage Riders’ Clubs (IJRC, IDRC): “There was some frustration and some athletes were targeted in one way or another in social media posts. So we tried to figure out the best way to deal with that. And so I asked the team to look at what other international federations were doing. And Signify is a company that actually helps. They used it at the Paris Olympics for the athletes. Last week the team met with Signify, and we’ve now agreed that we’ll use it as a test initially, because we need to see how it develops, as they actually offer a whole range of features. And in this first pilot phase, we will monitor the channels for the showjumpers, dressage riders and FEI officials who are there.”

Pilot project World Cup final can be extended

François Vergnol, the FEI’s new Communications Director, also explained Signify’s approach. And the options offered by data collection: “In fact, it would be important to first have a monitoring report that shows us exactly where the potential attacks and threats are coming from, where the harassment is coming from, and that identifies initial trends, statistics, individuals and groups, so that we can start monitoring and then possibly consider the next steps in terms of the other events we have coming up in the summer.” Vergnon is referring to the World Championships taking place in Aachen in August.

The riding of Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin in Amsterdam recently caused a stir. The “Collectif pour les Chevaux” had published film sequences on social media platforms. As a result, the British daily newspaper TIMES, among others, took up the incident. Dujardin, who was banned after a beating video was published in 2024, could actually have taken part in the World Cup final in Fort Worth. However, she decided not to compete. However, according to the British Equestrian Federation, the cancellation is not related to the media response to her riding.