NSW Rugby Union and NSW Waratahs Take Action to Protect Players

NSW Rugby Union and the NSW Waratahs have signed a landmark agreement with Social Protect, an AI-powered social media moderation tool, in partnership with Rugby Australia.

The initiative aims to protect players, coaches, referees, and the wider rugby community from online abuse and harassment, taking a proactive step to uphold integrity and welfare across all levels of the game.

Social Protect uses real-time AI to detect and remove abusive, harmful, and offensive comments from social media profiles, pages, and posts. All deleted content is logged in an administrative portal accessible to Rugby Australia and member unions, allowing for appropriate action under existing codes of conduct.

The rollout spans the entire rugby ecosystem, from professional men’s and women’s teams to grassroots clubs, junior participants, volunteers, and match officials.

The scale of the issue was highlighted during a recent two-month trial, which quarantined more than 1,500 harmful comments across national team channels. The data underlines the urgent need for automated moderation tools in protecting sporting communities online.

This whole-of-game initiative demonstrates a clear commitment from NSW Rugby Union and the NSW Waratahs, with Rugby Australia’s support, to build a safer, more respectful environment both on and off the field.

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