In the interest of protecting broadcasters’ copyrights, International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman Mark Adams stated that it is forbidden to share videos of the Tokyo Olympics on social media, both for the general public and for athletes. .

Adams emphasized that they encourage people to share still photos of the performances, but the video obviously belongs to the rights-holding broadcasters.

And it is that in the midst of the Olympic fever, the Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah, double gold medalist, was briefly blocked on Instagram last Wednesday after having published videos of her successful races of 100 and 200 meters for her 310,000 followers, violating the broadcasting rights of the Games.

Faced with this situation, a Facebook spokesperson said that, although the content of Instagram, owned by the company, was removed, the suspension was wrongly applied.

It is important to note that the IOC will receive more than $ 4 billion for broadcast rights during this period, including the 2018 Pyeongchang and Tokyo Winter Olympics, and much of this money is reinvested in the games and the support for athletes.

Such is the case of the television network NBCUniversal, which has paid $ 7.65 billion to extend its broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games in the United States until 2032.

The IOC representative explained that 90% of the broadcasters’ income received by the Committee is redistributed. “That money goes to the IOC, and it is our duty to protect their rights and therefore the income that we can redistribute to athletes and sport.”

Certainly social media has increasingly become a key medium for the public to participate in the Games, and this year, athletes have posted viral TikToks behind the scenes, even jumping on their controversial cardboard beds to disprove claims that the beds were not strong enough to withstand vigorous activity and were therefore “anti-sex”.

However, there are copyright and other restrictions on online content that can be posted from the Olympics.