Sports authorities organize themselves to sanction cyberstalking on social networks

According to website of the Ministry in charge of Sports, bullying is " behavior which is characterized by pressure, sanctioned by law, exerted by an individual or group of individuals on others, resulting in insistent behavior and / or malicious comments most often repeated. This situation thus places the person who is the victim of it in a position of inferiority vis-à-vis the perpetrator (s), while having a degraded perception of himself. ". This can be of a moral or sexual nature.

When practiced via cell phones, instant messengers, forums, chats, online games, e-mail or even via social networks, it is cyberstalking. Malicious comments can take the form of comments from Internet users, videos, montages of images or even messages on forums. Although violence is virtual, it is just as fraught with harmful consequences for the victim, both from a physical and moral point of view. Both players and coaches, referees or club managers testify to the abusive remarks, up to and including death threats, that they have received. So much so that in every game, once they turn their cell phones back on, they expect to receive attacks.

Faced with the gravity of the situation, the Professional Football League has decided to denounce the “climate of hatred” surrounding the matches of the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. It has therefore increased in recent days the working meetings with the managers of various social networks in order to better fight against the violence disseminated on the web.

But cyberstalking doesn't stop with football. Being often linked to sports betting, it affects other sports, and in particular tennis, one of the favorite sports of punters, after football. However, tennis has the disadvantage of being an individual sport where the name of the player is directly exposed. The players are therefore directly responsible for the result. Some of them, like Andy Murray, then make the radical choice to withdraw from social networks.

Faced with this surge of hatred and this continuous flow of insults and threats, one of the solutions proposed by the French Association for the Fight against Cyberbullying is to establish keywords that would allow social networks to stand in the way. Justine Altan, the President of the association, then considers that it is necessary to work with the professionals of the sector and in particular the sports federations because they know the type of discrimination affecting the sportsmen according to their discipline and on the key words on which it is. must work. This will then refine the moderation and ensure that there is a filter.

As a reminder, harassment as it is, is a criminal offense, punishable even when it is committed in the field of sport.

Harassment, whether moral (article 222-33-2 of the Penal Code) or sexual (article 222-33 of the Penal Code) is an offense punishable by two years' imprisonment and a fine of 30 euros.

Cyber-harassment is assimilated to an aggravated form of moral harassment and is punishable by law (article 222-33-2-2 4 ° of the Penal Code). In the event of aggravating circumstances, this is an offense that can be punished by three years' imprisonment and a fine of 45 euros. It is punishable that the exchanges are public (on a forum for example) or private (between “friends” on a social network).