Strategic Collaboration Aims to Safeguard Athletes and Sports Organizations from Evolving Online Threats
Election day is here and online threats are real across a variety of social media platforms. Moonshot and CTH Advisors have formed a strategic partnership focused on protecting athletes and sports organizations that face sophisticated and abundant AI-generated deepfakes as well as coordinated doxxing efforts. Moonshot is one of the fastest growing companies in the national security space and a leading provider of digital threat monitoring and countermeasures, working across the globe to protect athletes, officials, and executives from online abuse and other online threats. CTH Advisors is known as a respected investment banking and advisory firm specializing in sports, media and entertainment. Together, they aim to combat these rising digital threats in the sports industry as more and more high-profile figures and sport organizations they represent continue to face unprecedented levels of online abuses that can have profound impacts on physical security, mental health, performance and institutional integrity. The Sports Techie community blog has followers and readers that are entertainers and athletes that like you, require the best-in-class technology offered by Moonshot to ensure their digital safety through national security technology. The future of online threats is always complex, imminent and never-ending which is why Moonshot and CTH Advisors handles online protection for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S Army and Google, as well as major sports institutions, including the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Moonshot is responsible for protecting all Team USA athletes from online threats on behalf of USOPC, in addition to doing the same for the Paris 2024 Summer Games.
“Athletes and officials deserve the best-in-class technology to ensure their safety. We deploy the same technology to protect elite athletes as we do to protect the nation on behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” said Vidhya Ramalingam, CEO of Moonshot. “Through our partnership with CTH Advisors we are bringing these critical tools into the sporting world, just in time—as the online threat environment becomes even more complex.”
Moonshot is the Present And Future of Online Protection
Moonshot earned $20 million in U.S. government contracts to protect schools, national infrastructure, and public figures from terrorism. This initiative will leverage that technology to deliver best-in-class national security solutions to elite athletes, officials, and sports organizations.
Moonshot will provide the sports industry with:
● Threat Monitoring: Utilizing Moonshot’s proven technologies to monitor online abuse, criminal activity, and threats of offline violence across a wide range of digital platforms.
● Threat Mitigation: Developing a holistic strategy to address and proactively mitigate those threats online. As part of that strategy, Moonshot will take action through its unique partnerships with social media platforms.
● Digital Security Training: Equipping athletes, teams, and sports executives with the knowledge and tools to minimize their exposure to digital threats through comprehensive digital security training.
Protecting Women
The sports industry is increasingly vulnerable to both reputational and physical harm caused by artificial intelligence deepfakes. One in five players at major international sporting events, such as the Women’s World Cup, experience significant online abuse. Female athletes face disproportionate volumes of online threats, much like the national security space where Moonshot has found that 92% of women in public life experience abuse online.
Donald Trump may lose his 2024 Presidential reelection campaign primarily due to the constant barrage of social media insults and disparaging remarks to females that have grown tired of his and running mate JD Vance, the GOP Vice Presidential candidate, over-the-top, unfiltered and offsetting offensive remarks. My educated guess as a Political Science major is a majority of American voting women will show them and MAGA how they feel about these constant online abuses often extended on the Truth Social platform, by voting for VP Kamala Harris, herself, the victim of an onslaught of online abuses, lies and threats.
This is not just about protecting the mental health and wellbeing of athletes. What happens online doesn’t stay online. This is even more pronounced in cases of stalking and fixated persons, where offline action is more likely to take place. Major events and venues are also increasingly targeted by terrorists—this summer, Taylor Swift canceled her Vienna concerts due to terrorist threats.
Voting Integrity
Today, the FBI released a statement on inauthentic use of the bureau’s name and insignia in promoting false election-related narratives including a fabricated video news clip that include a terrorist warning.
Here in Georgia, our Secretary of State said threats coming from Russia caused the temporary disruption of voting at two polling places which has proven to be non-credible.
Yet, the online removal of these types of false statements and ads linger on Twitter/X for way too long because owner Elon Musk and his own AI do little to deter, and actually remove the misleading and often, harmful posts.
AI Takes on AI
Moonshot’s origins in the national security sector make them uniquely primed to protect the sports industry from a wide array of threats. Moonshot have developed a unique AI model, specially trained in advanced detection and threat assessment across several harm types: threats to life, terrorism, stalking and fixated persons, intimate image abuse, AI-generated deepfakes, conspiracy theories, and abuse.
Moonshot takes action. They offer an end-to-end service—the same service deployed by the U.S. government to disrupt terror attacks—which will be deployed to proactively mitigate threats to the sports industry. Already in 2024, Moonshot has:
● Taken action on over 200 cases of intimate image abuse against athletes, including deepfake pornography.
● Escalated over 20 threats to life against athletes directly to law enforcement.
● Removed impersonator accounts for commissioners, athletes, and agents, within 24 hours, by leveraging their unique partnerships with major platforms.
● Achieved a platform removal rate for abuse content 5x higher than average.
● Worked with law enforcement to disrupt one terrorist plot.
CTH Advisors Partnership
This critical initiative between Moonshot and CTH Advisors will address the growing dangers the sports industry faces from online threats and misinformation, and their impact on sport integrity and athlete mental health.
“Like many others, we are dismayed by the constant news of cyberbullying, doxxing, and other threats against organizations and athletes. CTH Advisors is thrilled to work alongside Moonshot on this critical initiative,” said Andy Brusman, CEO of CTH Advisors. “Together, we aim to provide the sports industry with a comprehensive framework to tackle the digital challenges of today, ensuring a safer and more resilient environment for athletes and fans alike.”
This collaboration will help sports organizations, leagues, and clubs better navigate the rapidly changing digital landscape while maintaining a strong focus on safeguarding their most important assets—their athletes. With Moonshot’s expertise in protecting high-profile events such as the Paris 2024 and organizations like the SEC, along with CTH Advisors’ extensive experience advising leading sports businesses, this partnership is set to redefine how the sports industry approaches security and growth.
CTH Advisors is a boutique investment banking and advisory firm with a focus on sports, media and entertainment, delivering strategic solutions across capital markets, business development, digital transformation, and go-to-market strategies. With decades of experience, CTH Advisors has advised leading organizations in navigating growth, operational efficiency, and digital security challenges.
Sports Techie, when you think about online abuse and women’s sports go no further than Caitlan Clark, the WNBA’s newest star player who plays for the Indiana Fever. She is on the forefront of speaking out against racial abuse of any kind in the WNBA. Clark said, “Those aren’t fans, those are trolls.”
Her statements came after season long allegations of online abuse, especially towards the WNBA’s black players. Some Fever fans have been accused of both verbal and online racial attacks after a playoff series with the Connecticut Sun.
Aaron Rogers is one of the most polarizing sports figures of all-time. I admit, I’ve been part of the NFL fan base that throws him under the online bus because of his actions and words. Does he deserve it?
No, and neither does WNBA star and fellow human Angel Reese.
I could easily list 100 to 1,000 different online abuse stories involving players in the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, MLS, NWSL, ATP, WTA, PGA, and especially LIV Golf, as well as all the Olympic sports and its athletes, and on and on.
The list grows longer and longer when you add in coaches, doctors and executives, as well as the leagues, federations, associations, and NGBs.
Concussions, CTE and football bring out the worst in humanity when it comes to online abuses on TikTok, as recently happened to Miami Dolphins quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa. Yet, despite his history of possible TBI, Tua refused to even wear Guardian Caps.
Who is there to help them all with online threats?
Moonshot AI and CTH Advisors. that’s who.
See you later sportstechie in Seattle, Atlanta and around the world!
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