Female rugby players and match officials were 69% more likely to be targeted by online abuse during the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 than their male counterparts were at the men's tournament in 2023, according to a new World Rugby report the governing body says sets a global standard for protecting players.
The monitoring, run with online-safety specialists Signify Group, scanned 440,340 posts and comments across X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok during the tournament in England. Of those, 1,189 were verified as abusive, affecting 45 accounts. Seventeen accounts met the threshold for investigation and eight cases were referred to law enforcement and the platforms. Instagram accounted for 54% of the verified abuse, with body shaming, transphobia and sexism the most common forms. Offenders were traced to Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States.
The overall share of abusive posts was small, 0.27% at the women's event against 0.16% at the men's World Cup in 2023, but World Rugby said the gender gap in targeted abuse was the headline concern.
"Social media has transformed sport for the better, enabling connection, storytelling and growth. But it also increases the risk of harm, stress and suffering," World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said. He said the governing body "took a stand at Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 to say that there is no place for hate in rugby or in society" and would "take all necessary steps to call out, locate and take action against abusers."
Gilpin was candid about the limits of enforcement. "Policing harmful behaviour at scale is difficult, legislation varies globally and platform thresholds for action remain high," he said. "That is why leadership, collaboration and real-world action are essential." He added: "Protecting our people is fundamental to the future of rugby. By acting decisively and collectively, we can ensure rugby remains a sport where everyone belongs."
Signify chief executive and founder Jonathan Hirshler said the trend was consistent across women's sport. "Data from the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 and across global sport confirms a clear trend: as the visibility and success of women's sport grows, so too does the volume and severity of targeted online abuse," he said. He credited World Rugby's mix of "advanced technology with expert human analysis and the support of law enforcement" for sending a message that "online abuse has no place in sport, and those responsible will be held to account."
The findings land as the women's game rides a commercial and attendance boom off the back of a record-breaking home tournament for England's Red Roses. World Rugby said the monitoring service, first deployed at the men's 2023 World Cup, will continue as a permanent fixture at its major events.
