English clubs to boycott social media over racial abuse of players

ENGLISH football clubs across all divisions, including the Premier League and Women’s Super League, will undertake a three-day social media boycott next week in response to “the ongoing and sustained discriminatory abuse received online by players and many other connected to football.”

High-profile players such as Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford and Lauren James, Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling and Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold have reported that they have received racist abuse on social media platforms.

The growing volume of incidents prompted the governing bodies and leagues in English football to write to Twitter and Facebook in February, which also owns Instagram, demanding stricter enforcement of anti-discriminatory regulations.

Leading figures in the English game remain unsatisfied by the action taken by social media companies, however, and it has been confirmed that a boycott of all platforms will now be imposed to cover the full programme of fixtures next weekend, including Manchester United taking on Liverpool in the Premier League.

“The FA, Premier League, [English Football League] EFL, FA Women’s Super League, FA Women’s Championship, [Professional Footballers Association] PFA, [League Managers Association] LMA, [Professional Game Match Officials Limited] PGMOL, Kick It Out and the [Football Supporters Association] FSA will unite for a social media boycott from 15.00 [GMT] on Friday April 30 to 23.59 [GMT] on Monday May 3, in response to the ongoing and sustained discriminatory abuse received online by players and many others connected to football,” a joint statement said on Saturday night.

“This has been scheduled to take place across a full fixture programme in the men’s and women’s professional game and will see clubs across the Premier League, EFL, WSL and Women’s Championship switch off their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

“As a collective, the game recognises the considerable reach and value of social media to our sport. The connectivity and access to supporters who are at the heart of football remains vital.

“However, the boycott shows English football coming together to emphasise that social media companies must do more to eradicate online hate, while highlighting the importance of educating people in the ongoing fight against discrimination.

“In our letter of February 2021, English football outlined its requests of social media companies, urging filtering, blocking and swift takedowns of offensive posts, an improved verification process and re-registration prevention, plus active assistance for law enforcement agencies to identify and prosecute originators of illegal content.

“While some progress has been made, we reiterate those requests today in an effort to stem the relentless flow of discriminatory messages and ensure that there are real-life consequences for purveyors of online abuse across all platforms.

“Boycott action from football in isolation will, of course, not eradicate the scourge of online discriminatory abuse, but it will demonstrate that the game is willing to take voluntary and proactive steps in this continued fight.

“Finally, while football takes a stand, we urge the UK Government to ensure its Online Safety Bill will bring in strong legislation to make social media companies more accountable for what happens on their platforms, as discussed at the DCMS [Digital, Culture, Media and Sport] Online Abuse roundtable earlier this week.”

ESPN