Rugby Australia is delighted to announce a landmark agreement to help protect rugby players, referees and coaches across Australia from abuse and harassment on social media.
The groundbreaking partnership with Social Protect will make the AI-powered social media protection app accessible to all clubs, staff, volunteers and participants, from the elite level to community rugby.
Rugby Australia is the first Australian national sporting body to provide all participants with access to a social media protection service, on a whole-of-sport basis.
Social Protect automatically detects and deletes harmful, offensive and abusive comments from a user’s social media profile, posts or pages in real time.
Deleted comments are recorded in an admin portal which can be accessed by Rugby Australia for law and policy enforcement purposes.
In a two-month trial across Rugby Australia’s national team social media accounts, Social Protect quarantined more than 1500 comments.
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh said the partnership with Social Protect would set a new standard for how sports could respond to the issue of abuse on social media.
“This groundbreaking partnership is a significant step forward in Rugby Australia’s commitment to providing a safe and respectful environment for everyone involved in our game - from Wallabies and Wallaroos to grassroots players, volunteers and referees,” he said.
“Social Protect gives us the tools to actively prevent harm, rather than simply waiting to respond after it happens.
“By making the app available across the entire rugby ecosystem, we’re proud to be leading the way in Australian sport and sending a clear message that abuse and harassment - online or offline - have no place in rugby.”
"Social Protect goes beyond safeguarding users’ mental health and wellbeing. By automatically and visibly removing abusive or offensive comments, it sends a clear and immediate message to offenders: moderate your behaviour, or your voice won’t be heard," Rugby Australia Senior Legal Counsel, Head of Integrity Amy Thorp added.
Shane Britten, Founder and CEO of Social Protect, said the app was built to give individuals the power to define their own boundaries in the online space.
“Abuse is abuse, whether it happens on the field or in a comment section,” he said.
“Rugby Australia’s whole-of-sport adoption is a clear sign that participant safety now extends beyond the sidelines.
“This partnership proves what’s possible when an organisation truly commits to safeguarding its people.”
