Sky partners with firm to combat online abuse

The Chicago Sky are partnering with a exertion institution that said it helped the FBI way an alleged stalker of Caitlin Clark to further combat online harassment of players and coaches, the squad announced Tuesday.

The Sky said they volition go the archetypal WNBA squad to spouse with Moonshot, a steadfast founded by nationalist information professionals that aims to extremity online maltreatment and violence. It volition usage its exertion to place and region concerning content, measure credible risks and instrumentality enactment to mitigate harm, according to a merchandise announcing the deal.

Moonshot CEO Vidhya Ramalingam told ESPN that the institution flagged threatening posts directed toward Clark, the Indiana Fever superstar, which yet led to the January apprehension of a 55-year-old antheral successful Indianapolis. He was charged with stalking Clark.

"Our systems flagged immoderate abhorrent behaviour coming from an idiosyncratic who was fixated connected Caitlin Clark," Ramalingam said. "He was going backmost and distant betwixt similar romantically obsessive posts and delusional posts, posts that were threatening violence."

The Clark stalking lawsuit came 1 period aft a 40-year-old antheral pleaded guilty to stalking Paige Bueckers portion she played for UConn.

Moonshot says 92% of women successful nationalist beingness acquisition maltreatment online, and 31% of this harassment is intersexual successful nature.

"Hate and harassment person nary spot successful sports," Nadia Rawlinson, co-owner and operating president of the Sky, said successful the release. "Our concern with Moonshot is astir proactively tackling online hate, harassment, and maltreatment crossed societal media and connected the acheronian web, truthful our players and coaches tin absorption connected the crippled of hoops and delighting our fans astir the world."

Rawlinson added that pistillate athletes, particularly women of colour and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, look disproportionate amounts of online harassment and threats of violence.

"Unfortunately, these incidents are expanding commensurately with the maturation successful women's sports, sports betting, and usage of artificial intelligence," Rawlinson said.