The FIA is going to war against online abuse spawned by keyboard warriors (aka digital maggots) within the Formula 1 social media community, the governing body's President Mohammed Ben Sulayem declaring high-tech war to end the rot.
And they can count this site as recruited for the fight and willing to cooperate with any further FIA-led initiatives to combat the scourge while urging motorsport media, teams, and drivers to unite as a powerful front to propel the cause to eradicate hate on social media
Over the past year, as F1 booms and attracts a whole new generation of 'fans' to the sport, the toxicity on the various networks has exploded with daily abuse prevalent on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and the like.
GRANDPRIX247, earlier this year declared war on the digital maggots that infest our own community with regular bannings, zero tolerance for abuse in the Disqus comments sections of the site and social media platforms.
Our own investigations conclude that, as usual, a minority spoil it for the majority and discovered an alarming trend of one account (aka user) spawning dozens, and even hundreds of 'accounts' that all follow one another, controlled by one troublemaker who creates bots (aka fake followers) to spew messages of hate.
The biggest social media bogs for attracting haters and keyboard warriors are Twitter primarily, followed by Facebook and to a lesser extent Instagram and TikTok.
Increasingly the social media giants are being urged by high-profile users to become proactive and clean up their platforms. Twitter is disgracefully littered with 'temp' accounts set up to incite hate, that remain active when quite clearly they are created to cause chaos.
We have advocated in the past that the platforms that do not contain hate speech more aggressively should be fined to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, by governments, for allowing hate speech and online abuse to set roots on their platforms.
Formula 1 World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, both with massive fan following on social media, have called for boycotts and urged the owners to take action, and create algorithms to weed out the vermin.
This week, as we reported, FIA chief Ben Sulayem declared war on this modern scourge, which we applaud and join the ranks to fight away this cancer that threatens the harmony and well-being of not only F1, but all of sport. Below is the plan in full.
FIA battle plan to eradicate F1 and motorsport of keyword warriors
As part of a concerted effort to address the issue of online abuse throughout the motorsport community, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) is partnering with Artificial Intelligence experts Arwen.ai.
Through the collaboration, Arwen.ai is implementing its AI-enabled content moderation platform to help the FIA detect and reduce growing levels of unwanted content on its social channels. A successful trial has already been completed.
The partnership is a key component of a wider campaign to be launched by the FIA in the coming weeks. The FIA has entered into dialogue with social media platforms, governments and fellow sports governing bodies in a commitment to joint action.
Research will also be commissioned via the FIA University into digital hate and toxic commentary specific to sport. This will provide a platform for knowledge sharing, education and prevention.
The FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has called for direct action against the scourge of online abuse and in particular comments directed at FIA volunteers, officials and competitors.
“As the governing body, we draw criticism at times for the decisions we take in enforcing technical and sporting regulations. We respect that people are entitled to their opinion and we encourage free speech, but an increasing number of social media posts carry an unacceptable level of vitriol,” he said.
“Some of that has been aimed at FIA staff and volunteers. I will always stand up for my employees, officials and volunteers. These people enable us to go racing in a safe and controlled environment. Without them, there would be no racing.
“We have also heard the views of Formula 1 drivers during recent drivers’ briefings at grand prix weekends. They have voiced their concerns over the issue and are committed to action. We are calling on the entire motorsport community to unite as one in this mission.
“Our campaign will build on the recent Drive It Out initiative. We must all unite to take action against abuse, harassment and hate speech. We must combat this blight on our sport. The expertise of Arwen.ai will be a key tool in this effort. The social media platform owners also have a role to play.”
Arwen.ai is committed to tackling the ever-increasing issue of online hate speech
Matt McGrory is the CEO of Arwen AI Ltd, a company that uses Artificial Intelligence tools to help businesses address the problems of abusive and unwanted content on social media.
Arwen has worked with the Mercedes AMG, Oracle Red Bull and BWT Alpine F1 teams and with drivers including George Russell.
As a result of implementing Arwen AI, Mercedes AMG F1 Team saw toxic comments on their social channels reduced by 70%. This contributed to a safer and more inclusive online community, where 29.4% of followers felt more confident to comment – no longer put off by unsavoury content.
Matt McGrory: “As a business, Arwen.ai is committed to tackling the ever-increasing issue of online hate speech. No organization or its employees should be subjected to abuse, which can have a detrimental impact both personally and professionally.
“We look forward to helping FIA take positive action by removing these posts across their social channels and not allowing toxicity to negatively impact the organisation and the motor sport community as a whole.
“Personally, I am proud to be extending our relationship in motor sport by partnering with the FIA.”
The FIA will mobilise its 244 motoring and sporting organisations in 146 countries on 5 continents and encourage media, teams, drivers and fans to take a stand.
Further details of the FIA campaign will be revealed by the FIA President at the 2022 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix later this month.
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