Football Queensland is thrilled to extend the services of online safeguarding software Social Protect to referees across the state, helping protect them from online abuse using real-time monitoring and moderation.
The expansion of the service to Queensland match officials follows the successful rollout of Social Protect software to NPL Queensland clubs last year, which is playing a valuable role in preventing online abuse within the football community.
“Football Queensland has a zero-tolerance policy against abusive behaviour towards referees, and the introduction of Social Protect demonstrates the proactive measures we are taking to actively protect our match officials in line with the Protect Our Game initiative,” Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci stated.
“As our game continues to grow, it is more important than ever that we create a positive and safe environment for our match officials across the state, so we’re proud to offer this service to our Queensland referees free of charge to guard against harmful content and abuse across their social media accounts.”
Social Protect’s online moderation and protection tool uses a downloadable mobile app to automatically remove comments from social media posts or pages that contain harmful content, including cyber-bullying, hate speech, racial slurs, and scams, while providing features like a quarantine zone for review, educational resources, and multi-lingual support for identifying harmful keywords.
“Football Queensland’s decision to expand the Social Protect solution to referees across the state shows their commitment to providing proactive protection from online abuse,” said Social Protect CEO, Shane Britten.
“We are proud to be working with a forward-thinking organisation that prioritises the wellbeing and mental health of their entire network.”
Queensland referees can access the Social Protect software using a code provided by Football Queensland’s referee team, who can be contacted directly via referees@footballqueensland.com.au
