ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In an initiative aimed at safeguarding tennis players and officials from online harassment, national law enforcement has been notified about 15 individuals responsible for “highly abusive account authors.” This year, approximately 12,000 posts or comments have been flagged to various social media platforms as part of this effort.

The announcement regarding the program’s outcomes over its first ten months was made on Thursday by the WTA women’s professional tour, the International Tennis Federation, and the organizations that oversee significant events like Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

The prevalent forms of abuse identified included sexist comments and sexually explicit content. Alarmingly, nearly half of the instances of online harassment were attributed to individuals described as “angry gamblers,” highlighting a concerning trend within the sports community.

Various platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and X, are being closely monitored for harassment, abusive language, or threatening behavior in 39 different languages. From January to October, nearly 2.5 million posts have been tracked through a combination of artificial intelligence technology and human oversight.

Additionally, the French tennis federation initiated a comparable campaign during the 2023 French Open, indicating a broader commitment within the sport to tackle this pressing issue of cyberbullying.