United Against Online Abuse Conference (May 2024)
United Against Online Abuse Conference
The Internet Commission was recently invited to attend the first-ever United Against Online Abuse conference in Paris (May 2024).
Kickstarted by the Fédération
Internationale de L’Automobile
(FIA) and the International Esports Federation, United Against Online Abuse (UAOA) is a
collaborative mission between national governments, regulatory institutions,
legal professionals, academics, tech companies and sporting bodies, with the
objective of building a global coalition to tackle online abuse within the
sport ecosystem.
Online safety experts
from across a variety of sectors joined together to discuss the scale of the
challenge and how best to combat the online harm directed at athletes,
personnel, officials, volunteers, and fans.
The conference was
attended by major sporting federations including FIFA, World Rugby,
International Tennis Federation, French and UK regulators (ARCOM and Ofcom),
French Government Ministers, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the African
Union.
Attendees discussed the
driving forces behind online harms, moderating and minimising the impact of
online abuse and supporting online users through education, complaints, and
redress. The Internet Commission were able to contribute to discussions about
the practical action platforms can take to minimise harm and the new
opportunities for ‘Trusted Flaggers’ and Out-of-Court Dispute Settlement to help build online safety – through
powers in online safety legislation.
