ICC successfully trials AI tool to curb abuse in women's cricket

The ICC has successfully completed a ground-breaking AI-powered social media moderation trial to eliminate abuse in the women’s game as it revealed that nearly one-fifth of the comments on player or team accounts are harmful or auto-generated, according to a report.

The trial was conducted during the T20 Women’s World Cup in the UAE in October to “protect the cricket community from toxic content” and create a safer and inclusive online environment for players and fans.

The International Cricket Council in partnership with tech company GoBubble employed an artificial intelligence tool to address online abuse targeting female players.

Out of 1,495,149 social media comments monitored across 60 player and eight team accounts, approximately 271,100 included racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of abuse, according to a report in ‘ESPNCricinfo’.

The ICC’s Head of Digital, Finn Bradshaw, noted that this trial was driven by the need to foster a safer online space for female athletes, whose growing popularity has made them more vulnerable to harassment.

“The last thing you want is a teenage girl who’s got some talent and ability and then she sees what one of her heroes goes through on social media and thinks, ‘I can’t face that’,” Bradshaw was quoted as saying in the report.

“We know mental health is such a big thing across the world and social media can be terrible for mental health and so anything we can do to make that girl’s decision to play cricket easier, we want to do that.”

“One of the objectives of the ICC is to look at ways in which we can inspire as many women and girls to play cricket as possible,” he added.

The AI tool allows players to filter out not only abusive words but also personal attacks specific to each individual, ensuring a supportive environment.

South Africa keeper-batter Sinalo Jafta, who has experienced severe online abuse, now finds support through the AI tool.

Before this, she relied on family members to remove abusive comments, but with automated moderation, she hopes players will feel more comfortable sharing content.

“That protection for me is very big because players get to share their life with the world without the fear of being judged or criticised,” she said.

“I am looking forward to seeing the changes, people just being free and players can just show the world who they really are.”

“Then we’ll see if there’s demand for this from the male players.”

Women cricketers can sign up for the service until the end of 2025, and a report will soon assess the possibility of extending it to male players.

“We wanted to do a trial and to see how it goes and we will produce a report,” Bradshaw said.