Japan taps Meta to help search for abuse of Olympic athletes

Japan's Olympic committee said on Friday it was working with tech giant Meta to monitor social media around the clock to protect athletes from online abuse at the Milan-Cortina Games.

The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) has designated six staff members in Milan and a further 16 in Tokyo to scour social media 24 hours a day, using artificial intelligence tools to help detect malicious material.

The JOC said it was partnering with both Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Japanese tech company LINE Yahoo to combat online abuse.

"With the proliferation of social media, defamatory comments and malicious posts targeting athletes have become a serious social issue," the JOC said in a statement.

"Such behaviour not only places significant mental and physical strain on athletes, but also risks impacting their ability to perform."

The JOC's monitoring operation began in mid-January and Japanese media said officials had identified roughly 2,000 potentially inappropriate posts before Friday's opening ceremony.

Reports said the JOC had requested the removal of 380 social media posts. Kyodo News said  "dozens" were deleted.

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Japanese figure skater Kao Miura said online abuse was "unacceptable because it hurts and saddens people".

The 20-year-old said he had received a barrage of abusive messages at last month's Four Continents Championships in Beijing, which he went on to win.

"The notifications were annoying," he said.

The head of Japan's delegation at the Milan-Cortina Games, Hidehito Ito, asked people to "support the athletes".

"The athletes have worked incredibly hard to get this far, and thoughtless words can take a big toll on their mental state," he said.

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