Full report here (and well worth the read)

SUMMARY ISSUES

1. Match Officials were targeted directly.
3 officials were in the Top 10 most targeted
individuals of the tournament.

Match Official, Wayne Barnes, was the single most
targeted individual throughout the tournament
(inclusive of players, match officials and individual
stakeholders). He received a third of all abuse targeted
directly at individuals.

2. Match Officials received 49% of the total
volume of directed abuse at the
tournament.

3. Match Officials and their families received
abuse over private direct message - Signify
is providing investigative support.

4. England Team Players were the most
targeted collectively in the tournament.

5. Comments (online and offline) from
Players and Coaches led to online and inground abuse of match officials.

6. Abuse relating to Match Fixing and
Corruption was the most prevalent form
(after General Abuse). In the main this was
focused on corruption and match rigging
allegations, and not linked to betting.

7. Abuse relating to Doping allegations was
not a prevalent issue.

MOST TARGETED TEAMS

§ Collectively, the England team account and their
Players received the largest volume of abuse –
mostly in the form of General Abuse.

§ South Africa were also targeted with high volumes of
abuse, elevated by beating New Zealand in the final.

§ Match Officials were the fourth most targeted
‘team’, surpassing finalists New Zealand.

But what strikes me on the abuse of match officials is the amount of times a commentary team spend telling the watching fans that the referee has made a wrong decision. Is that wrong? Should they support the ref come what may? Should they tone it down a bit, admitting everyone makes mistakes in a game? They bear as much, if not more responsibility, as much as a manager who says "We wuz robbed!".

Is there any evidence that either is a significant factor, though?

You will be well aware from message boards and attending games that plenty of people are quite happy to criticise match officials without any prompting (or even a good view 😁). For the sake of clarity, I'm not associating those people with the ones dishing out the direct online abuse, at least not the message board users, anyway.