Algorithms amplified World Cup racism, says report

What the report says

A new Hope Not Hate report says racist abuse aimed at England footballers on X during the 2026 World Cup was not only widespread but also helped along by the platform’s recommendation system. According to the BBC Sport report, researchers reviewed more than 300,000 posts and identified more than 5,500 explicitly racist messages targeting England players.

The group argues that X’s algorithms, which are built to maximise engagement, can push inflammatory content into far more feeds than the original post would otherwise reach. Hope Not Hate senior researcher Patrik Hermansson told BBC Sport that the platform benefits from hate because it can keep users engaged and increase advertising value. X has been contacted for comment.

The report said Jude Bellingham was the most targeted player, while Bukayo Saka and Kobbie Mainoo saw the highest share of racist abuse relative to the volume of posts about them. Djed Spence was also singled out for anti-Muslim abuse. The research also examined abusive replies to prominent posts, suggesting that toxicity can cluster and spread quickly around viral content.

The Football Association said players should be able to compete without exposure to hateful material online and called on service providers to improve safety. Hope Not Hate wants regulators, including Ofcom, to use existing powers more aggressively and treat major sporting events as higher-risk periods for online hate. Ofcom said it is pressing tech firms to make services safer and will hold them accountable if they fail to do so.