This was published 8 months ago
Brisbane troll fined for ‘vile’ online ref abuse during Rugby World Cup
By Iain Payten
A Brisbane troll has been fined $1000 and given a 12-month good behaviour bond for sending “vile and toxic” online abuse in a drunken rage to a Rugby World Cup match official and his family.
Aaron Isaia, 22, appeared in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to menace and harass, after being unmasked by a digital security company hired by World Rugby to monitor abuse of its referees and match officials at last year’s Rugby World Cup in France.
The court heard Isaia was upset with decisions made in the pool game between Samoa and England. Samoa were denied a try and later had a player sin-binned, and the English won by a single point via a 73rd-minute try.
The New Zealand-born youth worker sent abusive messages via social media to the Television Match Official for the game, Ireland’s Brian MacNiece. The abuse also extended to MacNiece’s wife and family.
The company employed by World Rugby to monitor referee’s social media accounts at the tournament, Signify Group, captured the abuse via an AI-powered program called Threat Matrix. A dossier was forwarded to Queensland Police, which resulted in Isaia being charged.
Isaia escaped conviction but magistrate Shane Elliott told Isaia that “officials around the world in all different sports shouldn’t have to put up with abuse ... particularly ... aimed at family members”.
Aaron Isaia outside Beenleigh Magistrates CourtCredit: A Current Affair
He took into account the fact Isaia was intoxicated and was remorseful, and had a clean criminal history.
World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin welcomed the result, and said there are other cases unrelated to Isaia being investigated in five other countries.
“The vile and toxic abuse is an all-too-common occurrence for many sports men and women and public figures, and we hope that this sends a very strong message to online trolls that such behaviour is totally unacceptable and that the sport and the authorities are prepared to take action,” he said in a statement.
World Rugby said it had extended its partnership with Signify Group to continue monitoring for abuse of match officials in all men’s and women’s Tests for the next three years.
The issue of online hate and abuse towards officials and players has escalated dramatically in rugby, with English referee Wayne Barnes recently revealing his family had received horrific threats after games featuring contentious decisions. Barnes, who refereed the World Cup final in November, retired after the tournament and shared his experiences in a book.
“When people make threats against your wife and kids, they should be held to account and punished,” Barnes said in an interview with BBC Sport. “Threats of sexual violence, threats of saying we know where you live. It crosses that line.”
The man who served as TMO in the World Cup final, Tom Foley, subsequently stepped away from the sport due to increasing levels of online abuse. Australian referee Nic Berry was also subject to vicious online abuse after being criticised by Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus during the 2021 British and Irish Lions series.
World Rugby said more than 900 accounts were monitored at the Rugby World Cup, with in excess of 1600 abusive accounts flagged to platforms and 90 per cent removal of serious abuse.
Watch all the action from the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season, with every match ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.