NSW Rugby Union and NSW Waratahs take action to protect players, match officials and community participants from online abuse

Tue, Jul 8, 2025, 11:00 PM
Waratahs Media
by Waratahs Media

The NSW Rugby Union and the NSW Waratahs are proud to support a landmark agreement that will help safeguard our players, coaches, referees and broader community from online abuse and harassment.

In partnership with Rugby Australia and Social Protect, this AI-powered social media protection tool will now be made available across rugby.

It covers everyone from our professional women’s and men’s teams through to grassroots clubs, junior participants, volunteers, and match officials.

Online abuse is a growing issue that we are committed to tackling. It has no place in our game. This partnership gives us a practical way to protect our community and promote a more respectful environment across rugby.

Social Protect automatically detects and removes abusive, harmful and offensive comments from social media profiles, pages and posts in real time.

Deleted comments are tracked in an admin portal that can be accessed by Rugby Australia and relevant member unions for potential action under codes of conduct and policies.

This is a whole-of-game initiative and a critical step toward ensuring our rugby community feels safe, supported and respected both online and on the field.

In a recent two-month trial, more than 1500 harmful comments were quarantined across national team channels.

It is a clear sign of the scale of the problem and the need to act.

With the support of Social Protect, NSW Rugby Union and the NSW Waratahs, along with Australian Rugby, are taking a strong stance to help create a better and safer game for everyone.

To get started with Social Protect, please click through the below link to find a sign up code for you.

SOCIAL PROTECT CODES

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