Over 1,000 active athletes and leaders in six skiing and snowboarding sports receive help from the AI tool from the company Signify Group through monitoring of their personal and FIS accounts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and Tiktok.
"In skiing sports, we are fortunately part of a community that is mostly very supportive and respectful. This is reflected in the interactions on the net with our athletes and cooperation partners, which in most cases are very positive," says Sarah Fussek, responsible for, among other things, issues related to online hate in FIS, to the association's website.
"With that said, 'most cases', when it comes to online abuse and harassment, are not enough – we have zero tolerance."
Threats are reported directly
The AI tool can, among other things, detect individuals who express themselves threateningly and offensively, and FIS or law enforcement authorities can take action against them. Every threat is reported directly to FIS.
Several Swedish skiers have received threats on social media, including Calle Halfvarsson and Moa Ilar.
It's so easy to write whatever you want via the internet that they might forget that there's a human being standing there as the recipient. At the same time, I'm proud and happy to have a federation that supports and backs me and makes this police report, said Ilar to Expressen in 2023.
Available in 39 different languages
Cross-country skier Max Novak was recently threatened with murder after pushing another skier after the finish.
It's probably just a net troll, but I was still recommended to make a report. So it's done anyway, and I assume the police have it under control, said Novak to SVT.
Even American alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin has been subjected to severe online hate.
"Let them break you down, or come back, again and again. Because you can, and because you like what you do", said Shiffrin in a statement after an incident in 2022.
The Threat Matrix tool is available in 39 different languages, and the FIS agreement extends over the 2026-27 winter season.
