JOC Vows Action against Social Media Abuse of Athletes

Milan, Feb. 2 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese Olympic Committee has been leading efforts to protect athletes and staff from social media abuse, as attention on individual sports and athletes tends to rapidly surge during the Olympics and Paralympics.

During the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, which will officially start on Friday, the JOC and the Japanese Paralympic Committee will monitor abusive social media posts around the clock from bases in Japan and in Milan, Italy.

"We've established a system for swiftly requesting that (abusive) posts be taken down and providing support for athletes," Hidehito Ito, who heads Japan's delegation for the upcoming event, said at a press conference in Milan on Monday.

Last year, the JOC and the JPC announced that they would use artificial intelligence to track such social media posts.

In a social media screening conducted during the 2025 World Athletics Championships held in Tokyo last September, about 500 posts were found to be defamatory, leading to deletion requests for about 230. The majority of such posts were either derogatory, discriminatory or sexist.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]