Rugby bosses are investigating high-tech AI tools in a bid to protect players from online abuse, threats, and potential scams.
Chief executive of the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association Rob Nichol told the Herald that sports stars need support around online abuse and protection from increasingly sophisticated scammers. Measures could include high-profile players using signatures for autograph-hunters that are different from their personal bank signatures and training around the risks of taking selfies with fans that could later be manipulated. Abuse of players and officials reached concerning new levels during the 2023 Rugby World Cup, including death threats and other vile abuse directed at referee Wayne Barnes who officiated the Springboks’ final win over the All Blacks.
All Blacks center Rieko Ioane has previously spoken about player struggles with social media and online abuse, saying Sometimes social media takes its toll on the team, the boys. Last year, leading Kiwi referee Ben O’Keeffe shared the horrid social media abuse he received after the Super Rugby final, including threats to his safety and vile messages. While our sporting elite aren’t targeted to the degree those in bigger countries are, Nichol said it still has an impact. Nichol said players also need to be careful around more traditional interactions with sports fans, including when asked for their autographs. Players often operated with multiple signatures: one for autograph hunters, and a secret one for their personal finances and confidential documents.
We have talked about it [with New Zealand Rugby], Nichol said. New Zealand Rugby (NZR) already monitors social media for unlicensed use of its player or intellectual property and also posts from players that might breach agreed standards. The national rugby body did not respond to a request for comment over the possible new AI technology. Police opened an investigation into online threats to kill made against World Rugby referees after last year’s Rugby World Cup.
A person working in professional sport has a level of publicity people may choose to target and use that name for leverage, Nichol said. Nichol said the All Blacks had already been schooled on the potential perils of social media, including how to handle vile trolling or abuse. Players loved to interact with fans as much as possible, but it was also important that they remained wary of the potential manipulation of photos taken with fans.
Nichol added: It is just a targeted means of screening a channel; a high-profile athlete’s X channel could be scanned for someone who is looking to have a crack at them and would intercept it. Nichol believed that such tools were already used in New Zealand by different high-profile organizations and corporates. If you have people working in high-profile positions and you have a responsibility for their welfare in the workplace, then this is a natural extension.
New Zealand rugby players have had their identities linked to cryptocurrency, Ponzi schemes, and questionable business opportunities. But the reality is all members of the population in one way, shape, or form are all subject to the same type of stuff… whether it is online bullying, harassment, targeting, gas-lighting, or business deals or Ponzi schemes, Nichol said.
Players often operated with multiple signatures; one for autograph hunters, and a secret one for their personal finances and confidential documents. Nichol said one area which players or their representatives are unlikely to be able to crack down on is the rapid rise of unauthorized books published about top stars. In recent months, the number of unauthorized books on some of the world’s top sportspeople available for download has soared.
While the beauty of interacting with fans through autographs and photos remains, Nichol emphasized the importance of players remaining cautious in these interactions to mitigate potential risks. In a world where online abuse and scams are an unfortunate reality, the use of high-tech AI tools could provide a layer of protection for sports stars against the darker side of the digital world.
