World Rugby and unions set new global standard in protecting players and match officials from online abuse at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

World Rugby demonstrates leadership in athlete welfare, digital safety and societal change through expanded protection programme, real-world action and data-led insights to support players and match officials from the rising issue of social media abuse.

World Rugby publishes detailed report into the prevalence of social media abuse experienced by women’s rugby players and match officials

International federation partnered with Signify to implement leading programme to protect and support players and match officials at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

Players and match officials at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 were 69 per cent more likely to be targeted with online abuse than at Men’s Rugby World Cup 2023

Abuse against women’s players focused more on body shaming, transphobia, and sexism

Eight cases have been referred to law enforcement and platforms to focus on action

Insights and learnings to aid preventative measures will be adopted and championed

World Rugby has reinforced its commitment to tackling online hate after publishing findings from its Social Media Protection Service, which safeguarded players, match officials and their families throughout Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

While sports and athletes benefit from brand-building opportunities via social platforms, World Rugby revealed that female players and match officials are almost 70 per cent more likely to experience online abuse, discrimination and hate speech compared to their male counterparts, with online abuse becoming a complex, borderless challenge.

The international federation has also called on all parties to work together as meaningful change will require a joint approach between sport, digital platforms and government agencies, combining prevention, protection, accountability and education. By highlighting the issue and promotion of its action-based service, World Rugby believes that the impact was reduced.

In undertaking its most ambitious online safeguarding programme to date, World Rugby set out to achieve three key goals – protect and safeguard participants, raise awareness and create a deterrent and drive meaningful change through insights. The approach moved beyond content moderation to prioritise meaningful action, including real-world investigations, victim-centred processes and long-term insight generation to support policy development.

Read the full social media abuse report here >>

The programme was delivered in partnership with leading specialist Signify and operated across major platforms and multiple languages, allowing harmful content to be detected, investigated and actioned at scale.

The results of the programme are:

Players and officials at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 were 69 per cent more likely to be targeted with online abuse than at Men’s Rugby World Cup 2023*

440,340 posts/comments across X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok were analysed for abuse and threats targeting players and officials

1,189 posts were verified as abusive, affecting 45 accounts

The most common types of abuse were body shaming, transphobia and sexism with Instagram the primary driver of abuse (54 per cent of verified cases)

17 accounts met the investigation threshold with eight cases referred to law enforcement and platforms. The offenders were located in Belgium, France, the UK, New Zealand and the US

World Rugby calls on governments, platforms and sports to work together to make it easier to report abuse at all levels, take appropriate action and drive positive change

World Rugby continuing to protect Emirates World Rugby Match Officials for international competition in 2026

The results reflect the growing challenge of online abuse as visibility in women’s sport rises and underscores the need for joint action between sport, digital platforms and governments. They also highlighted the value of visible action in shifting fan behaviour. Several successful prosecutions demonstrated the real-world consequences of online harm, helping drive broader societal engagement and community self-policing.

World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said: “Social media has transformed sport for the better, enabling connection, storytelling and growth. But it also increases the risk of harm, stress and suffering, and we took a stand at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 to say that there is no place for hate in rugby or in society, that we stand with and celebrate the personality and diversity of our players and match officials, and will take all necessary steps to call out, locate and take action against abusers.

“We recognise that this is an incredibly challenging and complex area. Policing harmful behaviour at scale is difficult, legislation varies globally and platform thresholds for action remain high. That is why leadership, collaboration and real-world action are essential. We hope that this report and our findings will help inform and educate sports rights owners, platforms and authorities and drive meaningful action.”

CEO and Founder of Signify Group Jonathan Hirshler added: “Data from the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 and across global sport confirms a clear trend: as the visibility and success of women’s sport grows, so too does the volume and severity of targeted online abuse.

“World Rugby’s leadership demonstrates what is possible when a governing body takes a proactive, data-driven approach. By combining advanced technology with expert human analysis and the support of law enforcement, World Rugby sends a clear and unequivocal message: online abuse has no place in sport, and those responsible will be held to account.”

The Social Media Protection Service was part of the transformative Impact Beyond 2025 programme, specifically the Careers and Gender Equity pillar which focused on supporting women in rugby to thrive in their careers. World Rugby expanded the service at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 beyond match officials to include all players, coaches and families for the first time, recognising the heightened risk factors surrounding women’s sport, younger digital audiences and increased exposure.

By sharing insights, collaborating with international partners and placing welfare at the core of decision making, World Rugby is helping shape safer digital environments and supporting the continued growth of the women’s game. The service will cover all World Rugby Match Officials in 2026.

Gilpin added: “Protecting our people is fundamental to the future of rugby. By acting decisively and collectively, we can ensure rugby remains a sport where everyone belongs.”

Editors’ notes

0.27 per cent of posts captured for analysis at Women’s RWC 2025 were abusive, compared to 0.16 per cent of posts captured for analysis at Men’s Rugby World Cup 2023