Threat Matrix selected by Arsenal FC
English Premier League club Arsenal FC have selected Threat Matrix, Signify’s proactive monitoring service, to support the club’s work in protecting players, officials and fans of the club from online hate and discriminatory abuse.
Responding to the Premier League’s new guidelines and the Prime Minister’s recent call for clubs to take more action, the club have activated Threat Matrix to help identify and unmask abusive accounts sending discriminatory abuse on social media. The service has a strong focus on facilitating immediate action against account owners that have been identified by the system to have a club affiliation to Arsenal, or any other clubs.
A statement from the club said: “For cases of online abuse that come from anonymous social media accounts, it can be difficult to identify the perpetrators. We are now working with data technology company Signify whose sophisticated Threat Matrix technology helps us identify those who send abuse while hiding behind the cloak of anonymity.”
“This technology is a game changer in helping us take meaningful action against those who can be identified.”
“Let us be clear, we will take the strongest appropriate action against abusers who are identified as Arsenal season ticket holders or members. We will also escalate cases to the relevant authorities, including the police, where appropriate.”
Working with Signify and benefiting from the Professional Footballers’ Association’s recent work into online abuse across the 2020-21 season, Arsenal have already taken action, instigating club sanction proceedings against one Arsenal season ticket holder who incited violence towards Granit Xhaka and discriminatory abuse towards a Tottenham Hotspur player on social media. A three-year stadium ban has been imposed on the individual, subject to appeal.
Commenting on the partnership, Signify CEO Jonathan Hirshler said: “We are excited to be working with the team at Arsenal. Their response to our data and swift actions have shown how forward-thinking the club have been on this issue.”
”By activating our proactive monitoring service Threat Matrix, we’re hoping to provide a heightened layer of protection for the clubs players, fans and brand - reporting abusive messages, and more importantly, the accounts (and real people) that cower behind them. Dealing with online abuse does not have to be a victim-led process. Working together with clubs and the football authorities, we can have an impact and create a real deterrent - we are confident that our work with Arsenal will prove this.”
For more information about Threat Matrix - please visit:
www.threatmatrix.ai.
Image credit: Creative Commons licence.
Attribution: Ronnie Macdonald. This image has been adapted.