Simran SinghaniaThe French Tennis Federation (Fédération Française de Tennis, FFT) has stated that it will work with Bodyguard.ai to provide all competitors at Roland-Garros 2023 with a solution to safeguard them from cyberbullying.
The technology was developed in 2017 with the intention of protecting the athletes’ mental health and preventing them from becoming victims of social media abuse. They will be secured from all forms of abuse like discrimination, insults, disdain, and threats by connecting to this new system, allowing them to interact with their fans in perfect safety and concentrate on their on-court performance.
The system is set to provide protection before, during, and for a few days after the tournament for all players’ main draw accounts as well as the official FFT and Roland-Garros accounts. Players simply need to scan a QR Code before connecting to their social media accounts in order to make use of the technology, which controls public remarks posted on websites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, in particular.
Bodyguard.ai will send daily updates to the organisers, notify them instantly if an assault is detected, and, at the FFT’s request, offer message extracts and the names of the culprits in the event of legal action.
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Yann Guerin, Head of Sport, Bodyguard.ai, stated:
“Social media is a major conduit for expressing hate and hostility, all under the cover of anonymity.We must be alert to this sad reality. There’s no avoiding it, as the cost of doing nothing is too high. We would like to thank the French Tennis Federation and the organisers of Roland-Garros for joining this collective fight. The aim is to protect the players and their mental health directly and indirectly – because their entourages can also read these comments – and ban people intent on spreading hate and being aggressive. Tennis is one of the sports most affected by this curse.”
Amelie Mauresmo, Tournament Director, French Open, added:
“It’s great for the mental well-being of the players, it clears the mind and will help everyone have a little more freedom on the court. I can’t wait to see how the players react to it.”
