The names of the most sleazy soccer influencers are making the rounds: “You provoke people just to get insulted and ask for money.”

Among the many excesses of social media, there is one that is gaining traction even in soccer. Something, however, is changing, and rather grim times are about to begin for the most sleazy influencers. Names are circulating (just take a closer look at the comments under their posts), and the buzz has begun—as is clear and evident in the comments on their posts, often videos, in which they use vulgar language against unspecified fans of rival teams.

“Watch out for this person: they provoke people just to get insulted and ask for money,” is a message appearing with increasing frequency. But there are also those who admit they’ve already had to pay, and the amounts aren’t exactly small: some have even paid as much as 2,500 euros.

In fact, more and more influencers are demanding financial compensation from haters who attack them on social media, in some cases managing to secure payment relatively quickly. The approach they take isn’t necessarily to file a defamation lawsuit, which can involve lengthy proceedings. Often, they prefer to proceed with a legal cease-and-desist letter or initiate a conciliation attempt before an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) body.

Faced with a claim for compensation and the prospect of a legal dispute, some users prefer to reach a financial settlement rather than face further consequences. Thus, an offensive comment posted on social media can turn into an expense that is anything but negligible.

“I can only condemn this petty abuse of the law, often involving scenarios deliberately provoked by the ‘troll’ in question for the sole purpose of artificially creating a situation to trigger a claim for damages and profit from it,” commented a lawyer.

P.S.: The two people in the image do not actually exist