Racist abuse of England players on X amplified by algorithms

Racist abuse aimed at England footballers on social media was amplified during the World Cup by algorithms designed to maximise engagement and profit, according to new research. The activist group Hope Not Hate analysed more than 300,000 posts on the platform X (formerly Twitter) during the 2026 World Cup and found more than 5,500 explicitly racist posts targeting England players.

Increasingly, more people consume news through social media than through traditional journalism. Therefore, the information that influences public opinion is increasingly shaped by algorithms, engagement, and amplification over accuracy. 

HOPE not hate’s Data Desk monitored this shift in real time, and can reveal how a small network of high-profile accounts systematically floods the digital landscape with coordinated, manufactured and often inaccurate, misleading narratives. 

The sheer scale and speed of this phenomenon has the potential to undermine how well informed the public are and, by extension, damage our democracy. We are living through an experiment as to the cumulative effects of misinformation. 

“X is actually benefiting from this hate,” Patrik Hermansson, senior researcher at Hope Not Hate told BBC Sport.

“It drives engagement on its platform and it effectively uses its algorithm to elevate and show it to more of its users.

“They show up in the recommendation feed – they are not obscure corners of this website, they are front and centre.

“That’s a choice it doesn’t have to make and yet it does”.

Rebecca Smart, criminal lawyer and online safety expert from leading law firm, Payne Hicks Beach comments:

“There was a lot of talk before the tournament about measures in place to protect players from abuse and that action would be taken against platforms who failed to stamp it out.  Once again, it appears that talk has not materialised into action and it does question whether things have really improved given the same issues arise at each major tournament.  

“The Online Safety Act already treats racist abuse as ‘priority illegal content,’ with Schedule 7 listing racially aggravated harassment and stirring up racial hatred as priority offences. This means platforms like X have a proactive, not just reactive, duty to stop their algorithms amplifying it.

“Additionally, Ofcom’s Illegal Content Codes of Practice requires services to build in measures that exclude priority illegal content from being algorithmically promoted. The regulator should immediately require X to disclose its risk assessments and amplification data, investigate whether its systems are complying with the Act, and take action if it is not.”