Referee Wayne Barnes shows a red card to New Zealand captain Sam Cane during the Rugby World Cup final between the All Blacks and South Africa at Stade de France. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
World Rugby is working with law enforcement authorities in five countries, including New Zealand, as a result of a ground-breaking report into online abuse at Rugby World Cup 2023.
More than 900 social media accounts, including those belonging to all match officials with social accounts (including their families) and World Rugby's official channels, were monitored during the tournament held in France.
Twenty-one social media accounts found to have sent abuse to match officials or players involved in the Rugby World Cup have been verified as originating from New Zealand.
World Rugby in partnership with its research data analyst, is working with authorities in Australia, France, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom to help prosecute those responsible.
One individual in Australia had been charged for online abuse.
According to the report, 6 percent of accounts that were abusive and had their location verified were from New Zealand.
Collectively, the England team account and their players received the largest volume of abuse.
Match officials, including Television Match Officials, received 49 percent of total tournament abuse, while Wayne Barnes received one third of all abuse.
The impact of the service comes as World Rugby releases Whistleblowers, an access-all-areas film following the match officials' journey to and through Rugby World Cup 2023, which also highlights the scale of online abuse they faced.
World Rugby said it had extended the partnership to cover international match officials operating across the men's and women's test arenas in 2024.
World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said: "The rise of online hate in society and sport is worrying and totally unacceptable and we will continue to do everything possible to protect and support our international match officials and their families by bringing abusers to justice.
"We hope that prosecutions will send a clear message that such behaviour is not tolerated and even if a person hides behind an alias on a social media network, they will be identified and can be charged.
"We will use the recommendations of the report to better understand online trends and help address the areas that lead to abuse at source. Some of these aspects will play into our Shape of the Game conversations in February."
Triggers and trends identified in the report will also form recommendations for World Rugby to consider through its decision-making structures, ensuring that the project also seeks to address the cause of the action where possible.
Rugby World Cup 2023 final referee Wayne Barnes said: "Those who abuse or threaten players, match officials or their families must realise there will be consequences for their actions. It is great to see World Rugby leading the way and seeing the first charges being made against those individuals who send such appalling messages.
"There is simply no place for that behaviour in rugby, in sport or in society."
