BRISBANE, Australia (AP) On Wednesday, Basketball Australia, along with the men’s and women’s professional leagues, announced the launch of an online safety platform tailored to protect athletes and teams from social media abuse. This initiative comes in light of recent harrowing incidents concerning abuse targeted at players and their families.
The timing of this announcement is especially vital for Scott Roth, a former NBA player who has transitioned into coaching. Roth has been at the helm of the Tasmania JackJumpers in the National Basketball League since its inception in 2021 and led the team to a league championship in 2024.
During the current season, Roth expressed his distress during a post-game press conference regarding the significant and distressing abuse faced by players and their families. Among the incidents he highlighted was a particularly vile comment from an individual who wished a miscarriage upon a player’s pregnant wife. Roth described the emotional toll of the situation, stating, “This last 24 hours have been quite emotional for our group… very emotional, and we have a lot of distraught players and family members and wives and spouses and children.” He emphasized the pressing need for action from the NBL, saying, "The NBL must do something.”
Heeding Roth’s words, Basketball Australia, along with the NBL and Women’s National Basketball League, has established a partnership with Social Protect. This collaboration will provide players, coaches, and officials access to tools and educational resources aimed at monitoring, detecting, and removing online harassment and abuse across various social media platforms.
Basketball Australia reported that Social Protect’s "real-time platform" identifies and eliminates abusive comments across major sites like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok by tracking over two million abusive words and phrases in more than 100 languages. This move mirrors efforts in other sports, where organizations like the ATP in tennis and soccer officials in Germany have sought to address similar issues of online abuse.
Jennie Sager, the CEO of Australia's WNBL, underscored the importance of fostering an online environment in which athletes, particularly female players, feel safe to express themselves. She noted that female athletes experience nearly 20% more online abuse than their male counterparts, with 85% indicating that such abuse affects their well-being. Sager declared, “That’s a reality we refuse to ignore. Our partnership with Social Protect is a decisive step in standing up for our players.” She emphasized that it equips them with the necessary tools, protection, and confidence to own their voice online without fear of online harassment.
Canadian-born Australian basketball player Dejan “DJ” Vasiljevic, who began his career at the Miami Hurricanes before joining the Sydney Kings in 2020, has also been subjected to regular social media abuse. He expressed his frustration, stating, “The fact that some people think it’s OK to jump on social media and to say to us directly… 'go kill yourself' shows that people live a very sad life.”
Roth condemned the abuse, stating it is “beyond crossing the line.” He expressed concern for the well-being of his players and their families, mentioning that some family members are fearful to leave their homes, with children being exposed to harmful comments online. “We deserve better,” he concluded.
In this increasingly challenging landscape for athletes, the collaboration with Social Protect signifies a step towards enhancing online safety and reducing the impact of social media abuse in professional sports.
