The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will implement its Cyber Abuse Protection Service (CAPS) for the first time at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, as part of a comprehensive programme designed to protect the mental health, safety and well-being of approximately 2,700 young athletes. The initiative aims to address one of the challenges facing high-performance sport in the digital age: online abuse that athletes may encounter when competing in front of an international audience. In recognition of World Mental Health Day, observed on October 10, the organization highlighted the importance of providing protective tools specifically designed for athletes who, in many cases, will experience competing on a global stage for the first time.
CAPS will be part of a broader set of measures that includes dedicated well-being spaces, specialized mental health services at competition venues and the Youth Olympic Village, as well as educational resources tailored to participants’ ages. The service will combine artificial intelligence with human oversight to identify potential online abuse in real time across 56 languages and major social media platforms. Coverage will be automatic for all participating athletes, without requiring them to register their public accounts or activate the service individually. In this way, the IOC aims to provide protection that does not depend on young athletes being able to recognize, report or manage online harassment situations on their own.
Artificial intelligence and human review to detect cyberbullying
CAPS will rely on artificial intelligence systems capable of analysing posts, comments, images and AI-generated content that could constitute attacks against athletes. The technology will identify potentially abusive messages across different platforms and languages, a particularly complex task during the Olympic Games, when athletes’ public exposure increases and digital interactions can multiply within minutes. However, the final assessment will not be left to algorithms alone: every flagged item will be reviewed by a human specialist, who will determine whether it constitutes abusive behaviour. This procedure aims to distinguish content that requires intervention from material that does not amount to harassment, incorporating contextual assessment before protective measures are activated.
When analysts confirm the presence of abusive content, the IOC will work with the relevant National Olympic Committee to inform the athlete promptly and appropriately, taking into account the nature and urgency of each situation. Psychological support and safeguarding assistance will also be provided, while identified posts will be referred to the relevant digital platforms for investigation and appropriate action. The mechanism therefore includes several response stages: detection, review, communication and support, with the aim of ensuring that young athletes do not have to face the consequences of online abuse alone. Mental health support is particularly important in this context, as digital harassment can extend beyond online platforms and affect the emotional well-being of those experiencing it during a competition.
Olympic experience supports the implementation of CAPS at Dakar 2026
The introduction of CAPS at the Youth Olympic Games builds on the experience gained during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Across both competitions, the service analysed approximately 4.3 million posts and comments directed at athletes and officials through their social media profiles. Of that total, artificial intelligence systems identified around 242,000 items as potentially abusive, which were subsequently reviewed. Human analysts confirmed approximately 24,700 abusive messages, a figure that illustrates both the scale of online interactions requiring monitoring and the importance of having specialists assess the technology’s findings. These results provide the IOC with an operational foundation for extending the service to a competition involving younger participants with specific support needs.
At Dakar 2026, the challenge will have a particular dimension because many of the approximately 2,700 athletes will be taking their first steps on the international sporting stage, with a level of public visibility that may differ significantly from what they usually experience. The combination of digital protection, psychological support and well-being spaces aims to address this transition through a comprehensive approach in which athletic performance is not separated from emotional safety. Alongside social media monitoring, educational resources tailored to participants’ ages will seek to provide tools to understand digital risks and recognize situations requiring support. The introduction of CAPS therefore expands the scope of the safeguarding measures planned for the Games by integrating the prevention of online abuse into young athletes’ experience throughout the competition.
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