United Against Online Abuse

Whilst ‘hate speech’ has no single agreed definition it is most commonly understood as “hostile, and malicious language targeted at a person or group because of their actual or perceived innate characteristics” (Siegel, 2020). These attributes and protected characteristics, may include race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation and disability.

The scope of Hate Speech also encompasses ‘offensive speech, digital hostility and online abuse’ therefore for researchers, prosecutors and victims it is a type of negative online behaviour that is often conflated with other types. Given this knowledge and the rapidly evolving nature of dialect, emojis and the online sphere, it makes it challenging to distinguish case-studies due to subjectivity and context-dependence.

Online hate can be spread through many types of media, including videos, images and text and often takes “the form of derogatory, demonising and dehumanising statements, threats, pejorative terms and slurs” (Stop Hate UK, 2023). Despite its classification difficulties, online hate speech and case-specific elements of online abuse are a possible legal offence.

We are dedicated to fostering a safer, more inclusive environment for athletes, officials, journalists, and fans by driving meaningful regulatory and behavioral change.

The UAOA coalition is a global alliance of sporting organizations, national governments, regulatory bodies, and technology platforms. Together, we research and combat online abuse within the sports ecosystem. Today, UAOA unites over 70 partners committed to this mission.

In our first year, we achieved significant milestones, including funding 4 Master’s by Research Scholars to study online abuse in sport, hosting the first international UAOA Conference in Paris, and publishing 10 academic works, such as the groundbreaking 2024 Online Abuse in Sport and Sports Journalist Barometer Reports.

In 2025, we are expanding UAOA’s global impact by delivering research-driven solutions to support the industry. This year, we have already hosted a successful summer convening in Paris on 2 June, uniting key stakeholders to develop vital policy guidelines, and will launch the inaugural UAOA Day on 7 July to raise awareness of this critical issue.

Looking ahead, our 2026 projects and beyond will strengthen the coalition as we pursue our ultimate goal: defeating online abuse in sport.

UAOA Partner, The Government of Australia, has an resource that can help to classify some types of online abuse: How to recognise online abuse in sport | eSafety Commissioner

Within this page you will find definitions of common terms associated with Online Abuse, such as Doxing and a worked example of what this may look like in practice.

The FIA’s UAOA campaign has been awarded €400,000 in funding under the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme to develop a ‘Pan-EU Framework to Combat Online Abuse in Sport’.

More information can be found here.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.