Chicago Sky Becomes First WNBA Team to Use Counterterror Tech Against Online Threats
The WNBA's Chicago Sky are taking steps to protect their players from online threats and social media vitriol.
“People think as athletes, we should take what comes our way,” Sky guard Ariel Atkins said. “We are human and some comments that people make are inhumane.”
This move is the first of its kind for the WNBA, the Sky organization is working with Moonshot, a company which uses technology that was created for use in counterterrorism and is reportedly used by the U.S. government, as per AP News.
The technology shrinks the millions of posts it reviews daily, by monitoring over 25 social media platforms and distilling the information into thousands of posts that contain direct threats to the athletes.
Next, “threat assessors”, such as clinical psychologists and social workers, review the flagged posts and target actionable threats to the players, including the sharing of their personal information or the presence of a possible stalker. If necessary, the posts are reported to the social media platforms for removal or, in more serious cases, directly to law enforcement.
“It’s a great thing to implement right now,” said Sky All-Star Angel Reese, who has one of the most popular social media platforms among WNBA players. “It’s really important to be able to have that (protection), especially as a woman.”
