Archive of posts tagged Social Issues

Nick Kyrgios 'disgusted' by horrifying abuse targeted at Elina Svitolina

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athlete

Nick Kyrgios offered some empathy to Elina Svitolina after seeing the shocking abuse she received for only losing a tennis match. 

In the Montreal quarterfinal, Svitolina didn't enjoy a good day at the office and Naomi Osaka took full advantage of it to complete a 6-2 6-2 win.

After arriving in the hotel and checking her phone, Svitolina noticed that she was flooded by abusive and insulting messages of all sorts – she wasn't insulted only on a career level but the angry bettors also mentioned her marriage and family. As if that wasn't enough, the Ukrainian also received death threats.
 
Svitolina took several screenshots – she posted them – and then delivered a blunt message to her abusers: “To all the bettors: I'm a mom before I'm an athlete. The way you talk to women – to mothers – is SHAMEFUL. If your moms saw your messages, they'd be disgusted…”

Kyrgios reacts to Svitolina dealing with horrifying social media abuse

"Disgusting (sad emoji), the 2022 Wimbledon finalist wrote on X after noticing the Ukrainian's post.

A couple of years ago, Kyrgios decided to go public with his mental health story and revealed that there was a point in 2019 when he battled major depression, anxiety, and even had suicidal thoughts during that period. In one of his interviews around the time of his revelation, the Australian admitted that it wasn't easy to deal with constant social media abuse. 

“I deal with it all the time. People just think raising the finger, abusing someone or making racist comments is acceptable in this day and age and I just don’t think that’s acceptable at all," Kyrgios said at the time.

Unfortunately, social media abuse remains a major problem and that's why some players decided to ditch social media in recent years.

Elina Svitolina reveals vile abuse, death threats she received after Montreal loss

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AI-based technologies

Elina Svitolina took to social media to share some absolutely disgusting and horrifying messages she received following her Montreal quarterfinal exit.

After not losing a single set through her opening three Montreal matches, the 10th-seeded Ukrainian didn't play her best against an inspired Naomi Osaka, who claimed a routine 6-2 6-2 win.

Shortly after the loss, Svitolina was flooded by negative and abusive messages – presumably from angry bettors. In a series of screenshots she took and posted on her Instagram Story, the Ukrainian revealed that the was insulted as a player – woman – her marriage to Gael Monfils was also mentioned – and she even received death threats.

Svitolina's message to the bettors: I'm a mom before I'm an athlete

The 30-year-old Ukrainian, who became a mother for the first time in late 2022, had a strong message for the social media abusers, telling them: “To all the bettors: I'm a mom before I'm an athlete. The way you talk to women – to mothers – is SHAMEFUL. If your moms saw your messages, they'd be disgusted…”

Unfortunately, social media abuse isn't anything new in the tennis world. Over the last several years, there have been numerous cases of a player losing the match and then seeing their DM flooded with vile messages. 

Certain tournaments have started using AI-based technologies to filter out negative and abusive messages. But that's still in its early stages and players are still widely exposed to social media abuse.