The NCAA has released the results of a new study looking at the harassment college athletes, coaches, and officials get on social media.
The research looked at the results from recent championship events across six sports using an artificial intelligence-based algorithm to detect messages. The model uncovered that about one in five posts were deemed abusive, with 12% relating to sports betting.
female athletes participating in the basketball tournament received triple the amount of abuse
About 80% of the 72,000 flagged messages were during March Madness; female athletes participating in the basketball tournament received triple the amount of abuse compared to male players. One, in particular, was subject to over 1,400 negative messages in just two weeks.
The resulting NCAA report explained that this type of activity can lead to mental health challenges and impact the person’s ability to perform professionally and personally.
It warned that even if people receiving these messages say they are okay, that isn’t necessarily the case. NCAA President Charlie Baker said the organization plans to “exhaust all options to reduce the harassment and vitriol student-athletes are experiencing too often today.”
The Threat Matrix AI model broke down the abusive messages into 16 categories, including racism, sexual harassment, and violence. The spread was roughly equal across volleyball, softball, football, gymnastics, basketball, and baseball.