ISU extends cyber protection program to protect athletes from online abuse

The International Skating Union signed the United Against Online Abuse charter and extended its Cyber Protection program for an additional two years on October 9, 2026, marking World Mental Health Day. ISU President Kim Jae-youl stated that athletes face increased online exposure as the sport undergoes digital transformation, with social media essential for career building but also a vector for harassment and abuse. The program is designed to protect skaters from harmful comments and abuse as visibility grows.

Athletes experience abuse that escalates during competition windows, often targeted through direct messages, comments and coordinated harassment campaigns that platforms struggle to moderate at scale. The athlete-abuse detection module within Guardii intercepts hostile or sexually coercive contact before it reaches the target, flags sustained campaigns that meet the threshold for coordinated abuse, and surfaces acute-distress signals to team safeguarding officers in real time. Backed by Startmate and operating as a Meta Business Partner, the platform monitors patterns of escalation and targeting across Instagram, Snapchat, Discord and other channels without requiring manual review of every message, enabling rapid response when an athlete is under sustained attack.