The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 8 August 2025 — marking Safe Sport Day — published its Online Abuse and Sport report, drawing on data from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. The report, produced by the IOC's Cyber-Abuse Protection Service (CAPS), identified nearly 25,000 abusive messages from a pool of 4.3 million posts and comments across both events, underscoring the scale of digital harm directed at athletes.

Scale of the Problem

During Paris 2024, CAPS monitored around 20,000 accounts across 45 languages. At Milano Cortina 2026, the scope widened to more than 6,000 accounts and 56 languages. Across both Games, AI systems flagged approximately 242,000 posts and comments as potentially abusive for human review — 152,000 during Paris and around 90,000 during Milano Cortina.

Human analysts subsequently verified around 24,700 abusive posts and comments — 10,200 at Paris and 14,500 at Milano Cortina — and traced them to approximately 18,900 unique accounts (8,900 at Paris; roughly 10,000 at Milano Cortina).

What the IOC Said

The IOC stated that online abuse represents 'a significant safeguarding issue across sport' and warned that its effects extend well beyond the digital realm. 'Online abuse is a significant safeguarding issue across sport and, while it takes place online, it does not remain confined to digital spaces and can cause real and lasting physical, psychological, reputational and economic harm,' the IOC said in its statement.

The committee acknowledged that much of the flagged content does not meet the thresholds required for platform removal or criminal prosecution, but argued these behaviours remain 'lawful but awful.' The IOC added that such content 'can still cause real and lasting harm,' stressing the need for 'prevention strategies, education and digital literacy, and response mechanisms that recognise the broader impact of online abuse.'

How the Response Mechanism Worked

Once content was confirmed as abusive following human review, the CAPS Cyber team engaged directly with the relevant platform, investigated the source of the abuse, and prepared a report to help the affected athlete determine potential next steps. Simultaneously, the IOC Safeguarding team activated its own procedures, prioritising severe cases within 24 hours and offering psychosocial support to those targeted.

Why This Report Matters

The dual-Games dataset gives the IOC one of the most comprehensive looks yet at the volume and nature of online abuse in elite sport. Notably, the verified abuse count rose from 10,200 at Paris to 14,500 at Milano Cortina — a 42% increase — even as the number of monitored accounts was smaller, suggesting either a higher concentration of abusive behaviour or improved detection capability. The report is expected to inform future IOC policy and calls on digital platforms to adopt stronger protective measures for athletes.