NewsBeat
World Cup 2026: Concerning increase in racist social media posts
More than 100 examples passed the legal thresholds for preparing case files to enforce action.
While detection methods have improved, the SMPS said the “data trends show a concerning direction of travel in terms of racially aggravated abuse”.
The Netherlands players who missed penalties in the last-32 shootout defeat to Morocco on Monday all suffered racist abuse.
Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber and Crysencio Summerville were subjected to discriminatory, racist and hateful comments on social media, said the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB).
More than six million posts and comments were scanned – an increase of 33% – with 225,000 identified for human review.
Around 1,000 accounts were identified for further investigation and 181,000 hateful comments hidden.
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