Report Says X Algorithms Amplified Racist Abuse of England Players

Racist abuse targeting England players during the 2026 World Cup was amplified by X’s recommendation algorithms, according to new research from campaign group Hope Not Hate. BBC Sport reported that the group examined more than 300,000 posts on the platform, formerly called Twitter, and identified more than 5,500 posts it classified as explicitly racist.

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Hope Not Hate argues that content provoking anger and outrage can attract more interaction, causing recommendation systems to place it in additional users’ feeds. The group’s senior researcher Patrik Hermansson told BBC Sport that abusive material was appearing prominently in recommendation feeds rather than remaining confined to less visible parts of the service. X was approached by the BBC for comment.

The research found Jude Bellingham received the highest volume of racist abuse among England players. Bukayo Saka and Kobbie Mainoo had the highest proportion of racist posts relative to all posts that mentioned them, the group said. Hope Not Hate also reported a separate stream of anti-Muslim abuse directed at Djed Spence, who has converted to Islam in recent years.

Researchers collected posts containing England players’ names or X handles, replies to player and team accounts, and posts using terms associated with the England team. Irrelevant material was removed. Artificial intelligence, trained with examples labelled by people, was then used to sort the data, with samples manually checked for accuracy. Posts were counted as abusive or not abusive rather than being ranked by severity.

The Football Association said every player should be able to play without exposure to hateful, discriminatory or distressing online material. It called on service providers to take the steps needed to make online life safer. Hope Not Hate said blocking users, reporting messages and suspending accounts occur after abuse has already been seen and do not address how content may be amplified.

The group proposed downranking posts that attract large amounts of abuse and asked UK regulator Ofcom to treat major sporting events as high-risk periods requiring stronger preventive measures. Ofcom told BBC Sport it was pressing technology companies to make services safer and would hold them accountable if they failed to do so. The regulator also pointed to a partnership with police and football organizations established before the World Cup to combat online abuse.