World Rugby Documentary Whistleblowers Launches – Tackling Online Abuse Critical For Rugby
rugbyasia247
Posted On February 1, 2024
The World Rugby documentary “Whistleblowers” is released today via RugbyPass TV on 1st February 2024 and provides exclusive scenes and interviews with the world’s top match officials as they presided over matches at the Rugby World Cup 2023.
This also highlights some of the troubling data released in the Rugby World Cup 2023 report on online abuse compiled by Signify Group.
World Rugby Documentary – Whistleblowers
RugbyPassTV will stream the match official documentary (a first of its kind) and highlight experienced match officials and Rugby World Cup debutants, focussing on the personalities behind the whistle in rugby.
- The doco features in-depth interviews, access to team meetings, and pre-and post-match emotions.
- Showcase the physical and mental preparation, & performance analysis.
- Highlight the special supportive relationship across the group of match officials.
Rugby World Cup 2023 referee Jaco Peyper (who has now retired) said: “We want to lift the lid for fans on what we are living every day, a hugely rewarding job with the best seats in the house for some of the biggest encounters in sport.”
South African, Peyper, added: “Some call it the toughest job in sport, and there are huge highs and lows, but the experiences, the friendships and the places are a privilege also. Hopefully, viewers will understand that we are normal human beings with families, trying to be the best we can be, and give them a better understanding of the environment that we operate in and our dedication to the sport we love.”
Whistleblowers is produced by World Rugby Studios in partnership with Noah and HBS, with Executive Producers David Snowdon, Dan Miodownik, Julien Bertin and James Rothwell.
Tackling Online Abuse – World Rugby
Since the announcement of the doco, World Rugby also confirmed there are pending law enforcement cases since its “ground-breaking online protection services” were put in place at the France RWC 2023 to support match officials and players.
The sports governing body had partnered with Signify Group to protect officials, players and coaches from online abuse at the tournament. The process has also helped with recommendations to help understand how to mitigate abuse at source, furthering the protection for those involved in the sport.
Editors note- The toxic nature of online behaviour, was for us, one of the most disappointing aspects of the record-breaking RWC.
Since the tournament in France, both Jaco Peyper and Wayne Barnes (England) have hung up the whistle.
Barnes said: “Those who abuse or threaten players, match officials or their families must realise there will be consequences for their actions. It is great to see World Rugby leading the way and seeing the first charges being made against those individuals who send such appalling messages.
There is simply no place for that behaviour in rugby, in sport or in society.”
World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said: “The rise of online hate in society and sport is worrying and totally unacceptable and we will continue to do everything possible to protect and support our international match officials and their families by bringing abusers to justice.”
The CEO added, “As a result of our partnership with Signify Group we have been able to unmask and identify abusers and take action through law enforcement agencies in multiple countries. We hope that prosecutions will send a clear message that such behaviour is not tolerated and even if a person hides behind an alias on a social media network, they will be identified and can be charged.
It is important to note that this programme is not about suppressing debate, legitimate criticism or free speech, it is about maintaining respect, compassion and decent human and rugby values. We will use the recommendations of the report to better understand online trends and help address the areas that lead to abuse at source. Some of these aspects will play into our Shape of the Game conversations in February.”
World Rugby said on the eve of the documentary’s release that, “Successful charges and law enforcement cases pending in multiple jurisdictions as a result of a ground-breaking partnership with Signify Group”
- More than 900 accounts were monitored with over 1,600 abusive accounts flagged to platforms resulting in 90 per cent removal of most serious content.
- One individual in Australia has been charged for online abuse.
- Signify Group and its artificial intelligence Threat Matrix service, identified, investigated and provided support relating to abuse and threats received by match officials, players, teams and officials.
- The focus was on open-source X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram as well as private direct messaging.
- The system covered text, image and emoji use and operated across 35 languages and dialects.
- In the case of the most extreme abusive accounts flagged to platforms, takedown rates are running at approximately 90 per cent.
There are ambitions to roll out online protection services across rugby to protect match officials, and players and deter future abuse and the partnership with Signify Group has been extended to cover international match officials operating across the men’s and women’s test arenas in 2024.
Image Credit: ONLINE ABUSE IN RUGBY -Rugby World Cup 2023 FULL TOURNAMENT ANALYSIS
Key Takeaways – RWC 2023 Signify Group Threat Matrix
CEO of Signify Group, Jonathan Hirshler, added: “In a sport synonymous with values and respect, we are delighted to have supported World Rugby and its community to help create a safer online space for them.
This was an intense project and the lessons from it will continue to shift the dial in the right direction. It is especially pleasing to see law enforcement prosecution move forward in multiple jurisdictions, and it is also clear that our work has supported platform activities to detect and remove abusive content, with takedown rates significantly increased because of the information we provided.
This project has clearly demonstrated how match officials need protection and support to tackle social media abuse just as much as players, and we look forward to working with World Rugby going forward to create an even safer online environment for all.”
- Match officials, including Television Match Officials (TMO), received 49 per cent of total tournament abuse.
- Three match officials were in the top 10 most targeted individuals of the tournament – Wayne Barnes received one-third of all abuse.
- Match officials were the fourth most abused ‘team’ at the tournament, surpassing the semi-finalists.
- Match officials and their families also received abuse over private direct messages, which led to law enforcement intervention.
- There was evidence of a clear correlation between comments (online and offline) from players and coaches triggering online and in-ground abuse of match officials.
- Players were targeted with a wider variety of abuse types compared to match officials who received a much higher proportion of targeted abuse around gambling-related abuse – 19 teams received targeted abuse on their official accounts.
- Two European nations were in the top three of most abused teams – Collectively, the England team account and their players received the largest volume of abuse – mostly in the form of General Abuse.
- South Africa was also targeted with high volumes of abuse, elevated by beating New Zealand in the final.
Image Credit: ONLINE ABUSE IN RUGBY -Rugby World Cup 2023 FULL TOURNAMENT ANALYSIS
Where Did The Abuse Come From?
The geographic origin of verified abusive accounts was as follows:
Image Credit: ONLINE ABUSE IN RUGBY -Rugby World Cup 2023 FULL TOURNAMENT ANALYSIS
- Europe 58% (France 25 %, England 12%)
- South Africa 19%
- Oceania 10% (New Zealand 6%)
- South America 3%
- Abuse from non-competing regions – 10%
(Asia was not mentioned in the World Rugby or Matrix reporting)
A copy of the Rugby World Cup 2023 Online Protection Service report can be found here.
At the time of publication of this report, Signify has supported World Rugby’s activities with law enforcement authorities in five countries:
- Australia
- France
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- United Kingdom
As part of the recommendations, the report said: “Match Officials and Players operate outside of World Rugby events – the option to consult with other Rugby organisations on a wider initiative that would provide protection to Match Officials and Players year-round, and not just at World Rugby’s tournaments.”
Sports Betting & Rugby
It was also interesting to note the remark on Betting – Gilpin was asked at the HSBC Cape Town SVNS at a press conference if World Rugby was looking into online sports betting partners as a potential revenue stream, and although he did not rule it out, there was work to be done in exploring this avenue.
The report says “While abuse directly linked to betting was not an issue, there was still a significant
volume of abuse connected to accusations of match-fixing, cheating, and corruption. Should World Rugby expand its relationship with the betting industry then it could be expected to see abuse directly related to betting increase.”
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