A new AI tool has been launched by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as part of the social media moderation programme for the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup with an aim to help protect the players from harmful content.
The tool will help the women players avoid content relating to hate speech, harassment and misogyny during the marquee event.
On the opening day of the T20 World Cup 2024, ICC released a statement saying that the programme will “promote a more positive and inclusive online experience for teams and players”.
As per the statement issued by ICC, 60 of the cricketers participating in the event have already opted for the programme.
ICC has collaborated with GoBubble to provide a combination of AI and human resources to monitor comments on ICC’s social media handles and the 60 players who have signed up for the initiative.
“The cutting-edge technology is designed to identify and hide from public view toxic content such as hate speech, harassment, and misogyny, helping to create a safer and more welcoming space for fans to engage with the World Cup,” the ICC release said.
“We are dedicated to fostering a positive and inclusive environment for all participants and fans of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, it’s been great to see so many of the players and teams embrace our new initiative,” ICC head of digital, Finn Bradshaw said.
The women cricketers are overjoyed with this initiative with South African wicketkeeper-batter Sinalo Jafta saying that this kind of protection is “very big”.
“For me with social media protection I think it takes a lot of weight off players, especially at World Cup campaigns as that is the worst of it,” the Proteas keeper was quoted saying in the ICC release.
“There is nothing worse than opening up your phone after a loss — or after a victory — and regardless of what side you find yourself there is always some degrading comment about your personality,” she added.
Jafta continued saying that it is hard to tell the younger players to not look at the content online but “what are they going to do? It is literally their thing”.
