World Rugby Extends Partnership With Signify Group To Combat Online Abuse at Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025

World Rugby has confirmed it will protect players and combat online abuse at the Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 with its extended partnership with Signify Group.

As part of the partnership, World Rugby said it will launch “a groundbreaking protection service ahead of Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 by delivering proactive, action-oriented support to all players, coaches, and match officials.” The global governing body said this is in line with its commitment to protecting the well-being of everyone in the game.

The service also covers all Emirates World Rugby Match Officials appointed to World Rugby men’s and women’s competitions through to the end of 2026 (including at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025) and continues the service which began in 2023.

World Rugby Chief of Women’s Rugby Sally Horrox said: “Every player and official deserves to feel safe and respected. This new service is a clear signal that we will not tolerate abuse, and we are committed to creating an environment where women in rugby can thrive without fear.

Rugby has always been about respect and the launch of the Social Media Protection Service ensures that we hold people to account. Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 will shine a global spotlight on the women’s game. We are proud to stand behind our players and officials – this is about leading with action,” added World Rugby Chief of Women’s Rugby.

RWC England 2025 – Preventing Online Abuse

With the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England in 2025, World Rugby said there will be increased online visibility, which often leads to a rise in trolling, abuse, and hate speech, particularly in the context of female sports coverage.

• They said via a press release that research indicates that female players and match officials are 30 per cent more likely to experience abuse than their male counterparts
• The UK is the largest originator of abuse towards match officials and players at the international level.

How Will Signify Combat Online Abuse?

World Rugby Chief Communications Officer Dominic Rumbles said: “Our extended collaboration with Signify Group is a testament to our dedication to combating online hate. We recognise the impact that toxic online behaviours can have on individuals and are determined to provide the necessary support and protection.”

Signify’s Threat Matrix service will monitor social media platforms to detect and report abusive posts and comments directed at players and match officials.

Signify Group CEO Jonathan Hirshler explained: “Following the success of our work at Rugby World Cup France 2023, we are thrilled to extend our partnership with World Rugby and protect players at Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 from online abuse. This collaboration highlights the importance of addressing online hate and taking meaningful action. Together, we are making significant strides in creating a safer online environment for everyone involved in the sport.”

Utilising Signify’s industry-leading AI-driven Threat Matrix technology across more than 40 languages, this partnership has unmasked offenders and worked with law enforcement to take legal action.

The service will:

• Identify the sources of abusive content, enabling real-world actions such as fines, loss of access to matches and, where particularly egregious threats are evidenced to pass criminal thresholds, potential prosecution.
• Safeguarding insights will also be shared with unions to build a 360-degree approach to tackling online hate, with Signify able to produce evidence packs and engage with authorities for any escalations.

This will extend well beyond the final match, offering insights into the trends, triggers, and potential mitigations for online hate and violence. The service has already led to prosecutions and other enforcement actions initiated in Australia, South Africa, France, New Zealand, and the UK, setting a strong precedent that abuse will not be tolerated.

Since launching the partnership ahead of the Men’s Rugby World Cup France 2023, World Rugby and Signify have:

• Analysed 1.6 million messages on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram
• Detected and flagged 61,136 potentially abusive messages of which 2,589 were reported to the respective platforms
• Identified 2,010 individual accounts associated with the 2,589 abusive messages
• Supported 18 targeted match officials and World Rugby stakeholders
• Completed 75 investigations, with 11 reported to police and relevant authorities, resulting in seven prosecutions or law enforcement warnings

Rugby World Cup 2025 News

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• Rugby World Cup and Asahi Super Dry Extend Principal Partnership Until 2029.
• ChildFund Rugby Extends Principal Social Impact Partnership With World Rugby.
• Gallagher Announced As Official Partner of Women’s Rugby, WXV and RWC 2025.