Chicago Sky Enhances Player Safety with AI-Powered Online Protection
Groundbreaking Partnership Targets Online Harassment for Athletes
In response to escalating online threats, the Chicago Sky has launched an unprecedented initiative, partnering with Moonshot Technologies to safeguard its roster from digital abuse.
Addressing a Growing Threat
The Chicago Sky has significantly bolstered its security measures, implementing round-the-clock protection for players at hotels, gyms, and during travel. This heightened vigilance stems from the increasing prevalence of online harassment, a concern that co-owner **Nadia Rawlinson** acknowledges as a critical issue.
“People think as athletes, we should take what comes our way,” Sky guard **Ariel Atkins** commented on the team’s new approach. “We are human and some comments that people make are inhumane. It’s phenomenal of our organization to take care of us.”
Innovative Technology for Athlete Security
The Sky’s unique collaboration with Moonshot Technologies, a firm whose technology was originally developed for counter-terrorism and is utilized by the U.S. government, marks the first such partnership in the league. This advanced system aims to mitigate the “noise that happens off the court,” as described by **Rawlinson**.
All-Star **Angel Reese** emphasized the importance of this protection, particularly for women in sports. “It’s a great thing to implement right now,”
she stated. “It’s really important to be able to have that (protection), especially as a woman.”
How the Protection Works
Moonshot’s technology meticulously scans over 25 social media and internet platforms, even those where players may not actively participate. The system narrows down millions of daily posts to identify thousands containing direct threats to athletes.
A team of human threat assessors then reviews these flagged posts. They assess the severity and report appropriately, whether to the social media platforms or, in more serious instances, to law enforcement agencies. **Vidhya Ramalingam**, Moonshot’s co-founder and CEO, highlighted the crucial role of human oversight.
“This is not a problem that can just be solved by technology alone. It’s fundamentally a human problem, and this is a human partnership.”
—Vidhya Ramalingam, Co-Founder and CEO of Moonshot Technologies
**Rawlinson**, whose experiences as a woman of color have informed her perspective on these challenges, echoed this sentiment. She noted the “dark side” accompanying the rise of women’s sports, stating, “At some point, you just want to play the game, so the goal is to remove some of the noise that happens off the court.”
The partnership was a quick realization for **Rawlinson** after reading about Moonshot’s capabilities.
Ramalingam noted a shared vision with the Sky’s leadership, stating, “It was really clear there was a values alignment. Some of that stems from some of our shared experiences as women of color in spaces where so often our voices are underrepresented, and the desire to actually do something about it and not just sit there.”
She added, “For far too long, I saw women like me, people of color, be overrepresented as targets and underrepresented in the solution.”
The initiative is particularly timely, as online harassment against public figures, especially women, continues to be a significant issue. A 2023 Pew Research Center study found that 41% of U.S. adults have personally experienced online harassment, with women reporting higher rates of severe forms of abuse. [Pew Research Center 2023]
