The report says monitoring tools reviewed more than six million posts and comments, with the total volume up 33% from the previous World Cup.
The gap between automated detection and human review is important. Technology can identify patterns at speed, but decisions involving context, intent and potential sanctions still require scrutiny. A high-volume tournament needs both stages to avoid harmful content being missed or wrongly classified.
Racial abuse reportedly accounted for 11% of the offensive content identified during the tournament. That was an increase of three percentage points compared with the previous group stage in Qatar.
The proportion matters as much as the headline total. A surge in overall abuse is alarming, but the continued presence of racially motivated attacks points to a deeper problem that cannot be solved by content removal alone. Players and teams are increasingly exposed to abuse far beyond the stadium, often within seconds of a decisive moment.
The investigations into roughly 1,000 accounts will be the next measure of the response. Detection creates evidence; meaningful follow-up determines whether the system changes behaviour.
The next major tournament will test whether earlier intervention, faster moderation and stronger cooperation with social platforms can reduce the volume of abuse. For football’s governing bodies, protecting the game now includes protecting everyone connected to it online.