SOCIAL MEDIA

A very powerful tool

Firstly, social media is a very powerful tool. It can help organisations and players reach millions of fans, allows you to update fans quickly and efficiently, and builds profiles of players for the betterment of the sport. It’s also great for creating long- and short-term commercial opportunities. However, it can also fuel arguments, negativity and other dangers.

Therefore, it is important all athletes feel safe and secure while using such social media platforms. So, in view of recent events, BWF would like to highlight the importance for athletes in safeguarding their social media accounts; not only against hacking attempts or identity theft, but also harassment and online cyberbullying.

BOC – SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

What should players do if they are a victim of harassment, abuse & bullying?

• All social media platforms have a zero tolerance of harassment, violence, abuse and bullying.
• It is perfectly fine to report unwanted or malicious content, comments or contact on your pages.
• All platforms have tools available to help you protect against it.

Facebook & Instagram

• Read the Facebook & Instagram Safety Guide for Athletes
• Read the Safety Tools for using Instagram
• Learn how to protect your account from unwanted interactions using the Instagram Restrict Function

Twitter

• Read Twitter’s Rules and Policies

BWF equally does not tolerate harassment, violence, abuse and bullying on social media, including death threats aimed at players or officials, and will support all players or other personnel who are victims of such behaviour.

As a general rule, we encourage players not to get involved in arguments publicly on social media. This can escalate situations and make you vulnerable to attacks.

Contrary Conduct on Social Media

At the same time, BWF would like to remind players, team entourage and officials of the power and influence that players have on social media, and therefore the responsibility they have to also follow the rules and policies of social media platforms.

This is closely tied to the BWF Players’ Code of Conduct that states:

This also includes behaviour on social media and we encourage Member Associations to warn players and officials that any post or comment that may incite, encourage or result in fans responding with harassment, violence, abuse and acts of cyberbullying may be classified as “behaving in a manner severely damaging to the reputation of the sport”.

Security and Protection

 In general, security and safety on social media is very important. BWF also wishes to remind everyone of some simple steps to prevent players’ accounts from being hacked and to protect your personal information.

Twitter

• Read Twitter’s Safety and Security guidelines

Facebook & Instagram

In the event your account is hacked, you should visit these pages:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hacked

Instagram: https://help.instagram.com/149494825257596

Please review these tools and tips to help you keep your account safe: https://www.facebook.com/help/285695718429403

We also recommend turning on 2-factor authentication:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/help/148233965247823

Instagram: https://help.instagram.com/566810106808145

Find out how to protect yourself against malicious software that can potentially compromise your account here: https://www.facebook.com/help/389666567759871