DCU Research header
Research
Young football players participating in warm up exercise
Credit: matimix/iStock

DCU research project examining online hate in football launches podcast series

Research News - First paper in premier league partnership
The ‘Tackling Hate in Online Football’ Project is investigating online abuse of players and fans at all levels of the game, through data analysis and interviews with players, journalists and other stakeholders. The podcast series features extended interviews with the researchers and stakeholders involved.

The first episode, which looks at the challenges in defining and investigating the issue, features an interview with Dr Theo Lynn on the data analysis involved in the project. Multiple papers from the project have been based on analysis of millions of social media posts using deep learning techniques.

Dr Gary Sinclair also features in the opening episode where he speaks about the role of social media platforms in the regulation of hate speech on their platforms. He points to the difference in the online landscape following the acquisition of X (formerly known as Twitter) by billionaire Elon Musk.

The series is presented by Dr Colm Kearns, who is also a principal investigator on the project.

 

Shows Dr Theo Lynn, Dr Gary Sinclair and Dr Colm Kearns
From left: Dr Theo Lynn, Dr Gary Sinclair and Dr Colm Kearns

The next episode in the series will focus on the effect abuse has on players. To be released on 3rd September, it will feature an interview with emotional welfare specialist Sue Parris. Later in the month, the third episode will feature an interview with freelance Guardian journalist Julia Belas Trindade.

Over the last three years, the Tackling Online Hate in Football project has sought to address the issue of online hate with a combination of quantitative data analysis, nuanced qualitative critical analysis and grassroots activism against hate speech. The project has brought together a range of diverse expertise (data analysis, network building, interview skills, discourse analysis, etc.) and engaged with all of the relevant stakeholders (player representatives, governing bodies, policy makers, social media platforms, fan organisations, etc.) in seeking to create a comprehensive solution. All of these aspects of the project will be covered in different episodes throughout the series.

Previously, the team published a data analysis of a huge sample of posts in a Manchester City fan form in an effort to track discourse around sportswashing amongst the clubs fan base. The study received widespread media attention leading to appearances on the BBC World Service among other media platforms.

 

For media enquiries related to this research, contact Conor O'Donovan and Rob Hanrahan at mediaqueries@dcu.ie