Media caption, There’s been hundreds of messages of ‘love’ & ‘appreciation’ – Boulter
Alex Brotherton, Jonathan Jurejko & Laura Scott
BBC Sport
Tennis players have demanded more action to stop “dangerous” abuse from the “dark side” of social media with calls for the introduction of identity verification after Britain’s Katie Boulter laid bare the extent of the issue.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Boulter said that receiving abusive content and death threats has become “the norm” for athletes and that “it becomes more apparent every single time you go on your phone”.
She shared messages including one that read “Hope you get cancer” and another that referenced damaging her “grandmother’s grave if she’s not dead by tomorrow”.
After saying she fears about the impact this kind of abuse can have on younger players, Boulter has received support and backing from her fellow players.
What are players calling for?
Speaking after her round-of-32 defeat to Francesca Jones at the Nottingham Open on Tuesday, British number four Harriet Dart called for the introduction of identification measures when creating social media accounts.
“The amount of abuse that we all get is pretty mind-blowing,” Dart said.
“The WTA are obviously trying to do something about it with the Threat Matrix system, but until Instagram verify ID or something, sadly, people can keep reopening accounts.”
Boulter’s partner and world number 12 Alex de Minaur said that an increasing number of athletes do not deal with their own social media accounts because of abuse.
“There is a lot of good that comes out of it [social media], but there is also a dark side,” he said.
Speaking before she faces Boulter in the last 16 at Nottingham on Wednesday, British number three Sonay Kartal called for collective action.
“These people can just create endless accounts. And I don’t necessarily know who is to be held responsible, I don’t think it’s solely one person,” she said.
“If I can help report it, if WTA can help report it, we’ll come together and try our best to eliminate it. I think that’s the best way to get rid of it.”
Figures provided by data science firm Signify, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) – show that, in 2024, about 8,000 abusive, violent or threatening messages were sent publicly to 458 tennis players through their social media accounts.
But for Dart, social media abuse goes far beyond tennis.
“This isn’t just a tennis issue,” she said. “This is a global issue, and it’s not just a sport issue. It’s everywhere. It’s even regular people who I’m sure get trolled or whatever by certain people or individuals.
“We live in the 21st Century, and are we not ID-ing people
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