More than 100 women players sign up for ICC’s protection programme against online trolling

More than 100 women cricketers have joined the ICC’s Player Protection Programme to combat social media abuse. Partnering with AI moderator Freedom2hear, the initiative has already filtered 60,000 harmful comments and restricted thousands of abusive accounts during the T20 World Cup

London: More than 100 women cricketers have signed up for the ICC Player Protection Programme to “silence trolls on social media platforms” in partnership with AI-powered moderator Freedom2hear, which has weeded out almost 60,000 “harmful pieces of content” during the ongoing T20 World Cup.

Over 50 new sign-ups were recorded at the start of the tournament here, the ICC said in a release.

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“…while the service provides additional protection across official ICC social media accounts. Seven of the 12 teams competing at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 are protected, with umpires and broadcasters also registered,” the statement read.

After the first week of the T20 World Cup, the tool reviewed nearly 250,000 comments and removed almost 60,000 harmful pieces of content.

“More than 2,000 repeat offenders had temporary restrictions put on their interactions, and 370 users were blocked.”

Indian left-arm spinner Radha Yadav highlighted the growing “toxicity” of social media as a reason for joining the programme.

“Social media can be such an amazing resource for me to interact with friends, family and fans all over the world, but it’s also become an increasingly toxic space, especially for female athletes,” said Yadav.

“It’s important to talk about this openly and find solutions to the problem, which is why I signed up for the ICC Player Protection Programme.”

Another protected player is England wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones, who also said that the programme has helped her deal with some of the abuse on social media.

“It is something that we sadly have to deal with as international athletes in the public eye, and it can have a negative effect on you when you are simply trying to play the game to the best of your ability,” she said.

“We have a great relationship with the vast majority of our fans, and we love interacting with them in person and on social media…But the downside is that there are people who choose to abuse you instead…

“And for the ICC to be fully supportive in providing this kind of service is fantastic. It is a programme that puts our wellbeing at the forefront, and that is a good thing.”

First introduced ahead of the 2024 women’s T20 World Cup, the programme is a key component of the ICC’s “wider approach to player wellbeing and safeguarding.”

The programme has been operated across all ICC events since then, helping participants engage confidently with fans while reducing exposure to harmful online content.

Scotland’s Sarah Bryce, who signed up for it in 2024, said the ICC Player Protection Programme has “made a massive difference”.

“It’s nice having that peace of mind because a lot of the players, the young players in particular, use social media a lot,” said Bryce.