Motorsport and other sporting bodies joining to fight online abuse, toxicity

Motorsport's governing body will attempt to drive out online hate speech and abuse by collaborating with other affected groups.

The FIA said it has support from the European Commission, motorcyling's governing body, and Professional Game Match Officials Limited — the body responsible for match officials in English professional soccer — to tackle the problems.

The FIA revealed its strategic approach in a white paper on Thursday that "sets out the sustained and collaborative approach the FIA will adopt in confronting online toxicity," it said in a statement.

The document called "A Strategic Response To Online Hate Speech In Sport" has drawn on expertise from industry experts and government institutions. It was presented to the FIA's 241 member clubs and also shared at a World Motor Sport Council in Bahrain on Thursday ahead of the season-opening Formula One race on Sunday.

Across the European Union, 80 per cent of people surveyed had encountered online hate, and 40 per cent of respondents claimed they were left frightened or threatened, the white paper said.

After crashing late in the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP in 2021, F1 driver Nicholas Latifi of Montreal was subjected to online abuse and death threats and hired a bodyguard on a daytrip to London.

Former F1 race director Michael Masi, who made the decision to restart the race and eventually left the FIA, also faced a torrent of hatred and abuse.

"They were shocking. Racist, abusive, vile, they called me every name under the sun. And there were death threats. People saying they were going to come after me and my family," Masi said in an interview with Australia's NewsCorp in July. "And they kept on coming. Not just on my Facebook but also on my LinkedIn, which is supposed