IOC to deploy AI to erase abusive posts to athletes at Paris Olympics

LAUSANNE (Agencies): The International Olympic Committee will deploy AI in order to block any abuse on social media directed at 15,000 athletes and officials at the Paris Olympics next month, President Thomas Bach said on Friday. The Games are being staged amid ongoing wars in Ukraine, following Russia’s invasion in 2022, and between Hamas and Israel in Gaza – events that have already led to cases of abuse on social media. The Olympics kick off on July 26 with more than 10,500 athletes competing across 32 sports, and is expected to generate more than half a billion social media engagements during the 16 days of the event, according to the IOC. “The IOC will use AI at Paris in different areas,” Bach told a press conference. “One is safeguarding, since we expect half a billion social media posts during these Games. If someone were to take only one second to read each post it would take them 16 years to go through,” he said. “The IOC will instead provide a pro-active AI safeguarding tool to protect athletes from cyberabuse. This AI tool offers extensive monitoring, covering 15,000 athletes and officials. This automatically erases abusive posts to shield athletes.”

Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be competing under their flag but have been allowed to take part only as neutral athletes, angering Moscow. The measures will cover all kinds of abuse, not just political attacks. The IOC gave no details of what kind of access to their accounts athletes would be expected to give it. Bach also said political developments in France and upcoming snap parliamentary elections only weeks before the Olympics would not derail either preparations or the Games themselves. “No, we are not concerned,” Bach said. “Be it the government or the opposition they all express not only their wish but their determination that France presents itself at its best on the occasion of the Olympic Games.” French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday called a snap parliamentary election for the end of the month after the anti-immigration, eurosceptic National Rally came out on top in a vote for the European Parliament.

IOC proposes creation of Olympic Esports Games, says Bach:

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will next month vote on the creation of new Olympic Esports Games that the Olympic body hopes will become the peak of achievement for gamers around the world, President Thomas Bach said on Friday. The IOC has been looking into Esports for several years and has formed a dedicated commission to look at opportunities. In 2021, it developed the Olympic virtual series, a pilot venture in Esports. “With the creation of Olympic Esports Games, the IOC is taking a major step forward and is keeping up with the pace of the digital revolution,” Bach told a press conference. “We are very excited how enthusiastically the Esports community represented in our Esports Commission has engaged with this initiative. This is further proof of the attractivity of the Olympic brand and the values it stands for.” The proposal of the IOC executive board will be voted on at their session during the Paris Olympics next month, with a potential host already being considered. Bach said a new structure would be set up within the IOC but it would be completely separate from the organisational and financial model for the traditional Olympic Games. The IOC has been trying for years to connect with a younger generation of potential Olympic fans, with its traditional Olympic audience base gradually ageing.