WTA and World Tennis report significant progress in fight against online abuse in 2025

• 66% of serious abuse removed
• 35 accounts escalated to law enforcement
• 89% of accounts responsible for serious abuse in 2024 did not reappear in 2025
• Reporting and investigation service forms part of tennis governing bodies’ wider player wellbeing strategy

July 16, 2026 -- The WTA and World Tennis on Thursday published the second annual season-wide report into online abuse and threats directed at players across the Tours.

The report, based on data from Signify Group’s Threat Matrix service, secured the removal of 66% of serious abusive posts or comments and escalated 35 accounts to law enforcement. Data also shows that 89% of accounts responsible for serious abuse in 2024 did not reappear in 2025.

WTA and World Tennis jointly stated:

“The wellbeing of players and the tennis family is an absolute priority for us and the sport as a whole, and the use of the Threat Matrix service is a key part of our wider work on player welfare. Insight from this report is crucial to helping us broaden our knowledge of the issue and take decisive action to protect victims of vile online abuse by punishing those responsible.

“While today’s findings illustrate the effectiveness of that action to date, further significant progress requires collective action from social media companies, law enforcement, governing bodies and the gambling industry and we will continue to proactively advocate for that.”

The Threat Matrix service, delivered by Signify Group and supported by Theseus Risk Management and investigations specialists Quest, builds on the inaugural 2024 season report (published June 2025) and forms part of the ongoing joint initiative between World Tennis and WTA to identify, investigate and act against online abuse and threats targeting players.

All WTA and World Tennis players are covered by the Threat Matrix service across the entire season. More than 10,000 players and officials are covered by the AI-led initiative which is supported by human analysts who analyse and triage content in 57 languages, flagged from open-source data across X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook. A team of specialist investigators and risk assessors then gather evidence on the most concerning accounts, working with Tour and venue security teams to take action to prevent real-world harm.

More than 1.2 million posts and comments were analysed across 2025. Over 12,000 posts to platforms were categorised as abusive, with 3,726 posts categorised as serious abuse, including violent, sexual, racist and targeted threat.

Coordinated Action Delivering Results

The report demonstrates the growing effectiveness of coordinated action between governing bodies, tournament organisers, social media platforms and law enforcement agencies:

• 89% of accounts responsible for serious abuse in 2024 did not reappear in 2025.
• 35 accounts linked to 12 individuals, including one verified account network, were escalated to law enforcement agencies.
• 26 prolific abusive accounts on X and Instagram were removed after posting more than 30 abusive messages each. Together, those accounts were responsible for 21% of all abuse detected during the year.
• 68 abusive accounts were fully or partially identified through investigations, up from 39 in 2024.

Prolific Accounts

The report highlights the disproportionate role played by a small number of prolific abusive offenders. Just 9% of abusive accounts were responsible for 87% of all abuse categorised as “high concern”, while prolific accounts were responsible for 49% of all detected abuse (up from 43% in 2024). Accounts classified as prolific offenders were also significantly more likely to post violent, sexual and family-related abuse.

Angry Gamblers

The report also highlights the continued and disproportionate impact of abuse linked to gambling activity. Angry gamblers were responsible for 42% of all verified abuse detected during the 2025 season (a 2% increase on 2024) and 59% of all serious abuse.

Earlier this month, US-based Fanatics Sportsbook became the first betting operator to adopt investigative tools, including Threat Matrix, through the Bad Actor Program to identify and take action against individuals responsible for social media abuse. The WTA and World Tennis are calling on more of the gambling industry to take similarly proactive measures.

A WTA Player Board representative said:

"The abuse directed at players online is unacceptable. While it comes from a relatively small number of accounts, its impact can be significant. It's reassuring to know the WTA and World Tennis are taking this seriously, supporting players and making it clear that this kind of behaviour isn't acceptable.

“The progress highlighted in this report demonstrates the value of working collaboratively across the sport and with our partners to identify abusive behaviour, support players and take meaningful action against those responsible."

Jonathan Hirshler, CEO of Signify Group, said:

"The WTA and World Tennis have established one of the world's leading programmes to protect athletes from online abuse, demonstrating a clear commitment to player safety. We're proud to support that effort through Threat Matrix, combining AI, specialist analysts and investigative expertise to identify offenders and help drive real-world action.

"This year's report shows both the scale of the challenge, but most importantly, the actions being taken. While online abuse remains a serious issue, the progress reflected in this report shows what can be achieved when sports organisations, tech partners and security teams work together, but tackling online abuse requires continued commitment and effort from all partners.”