When Moa Ilar was subjected to online hate, her husband had to clear her social media. During the Olympics, an AI service is taking care of that.
– All the threats and hate that you don’t have to deal wiht is nice. I’ve gotten my share, says the skiing star.
It was after Moa Ilar let Maja Dahlqvist through on the final stretch in Lahti, allowing her teammate to win the sprint cup in 2023, that Ilar was hit with online hate.
– It just turns out that you need ten positive comments to outweigh one negative one. So it does have an impact, says Moa Ilar.
During the Olympics in Paris, the Swedish Olympic Committee is using an AI service to monitor and filter comments on social media. The goal is to protect the athletes from hate and threats.
– We want to create a positive surroundings for our athletes, says Karin Mattsson, press officer at the Swedish Olympic Committee.
The AI filters out comments containing hate speech, threats, and insults. The athletes and their teams will not see these comments.
Moa Ilar welcomes the initiative.
– Everything that helps is good. ItS tough enough as it is, she says.
The Swedish olympic Committee is also working to educate athletes and the public about online behavior and the consequences of hate speech.
