ATP says Safe Sport program has flagged more than 162,000 abusive online comments to players

LONDON (AP) — The ATP Tour said Thursday its Safe Sport initiative has flagged more than 162,000 abusive social media comments directed at players in its first year.

The tour said more than 3.1 million comments were scanned, with the ones classified as most severe hidden from the 245 players who were targeted.

Safe Sport uses real-time AI to detect and hide social media comments from players' accounts. It launched in July 2024 and is available to the top 250 players in singles and the top 50 in doubles.

Andrew Azzopardi, the ATP's director of safeguarding, said the initiative has “fundamentally changed how we protect our athletes online.”

“More than 1 in 10 comments on players’ posts were abusive — rising to 50% in extreme cases,” Azzopardi said in a statement. "While it won’t eliminate abuse overnight, it’s our first line of defense. Safeguarding player well being is a long-term commitment.”

Safe Sport also supports players facing email threats, impersonation, deepfakes and scams.

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