FIFA, UEFA joins English soccer’s 4-day social media boycott

[MenInG]

English soccer’s boycott of social media is spreading after FIFA and UEFA said they will join the players, clubs and organizations in a four-day protest against online abuse.

The boycott will also be joined by English cricket and rugby clubs, and the British Lawn Tennis Association, highlighting concerns that Twitter and Facebook, which also owns Instagram, aren’t doing enough to combat racist abuse on their platforms.

“FIFA supports the initiative from English football to call out discriminatory and other offensive abuse on social media,” world football’s governing body said in a statement. “This has no place in football or society more generally and we strongly condemn it.

“We believe that authorities and social media companies should take real and effective steps to put an end to these abhorrent practices because it’s getting worse all the time and something needs to be done — and done quickly — to put a stop to it.

The social media silence will start on Friday afternoon until late Monday evening.

Much of the racist abuse is sent to players from anonymous accounts. Twitter and Facebook would only provide comments from unnamed spokespeople when asked for interviews to discuss the boycott.

Broadcasters are also taking part in the boycott including Comcast-owned Sky Sports and BT Sport, which televise Premier League games in Britain and would usually show goal clips on social media.

The protest means UEFA won’t be posting about the Women’s Champions League semifinals on Sunday.

Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, the only Black driver in F1, called on his sport to join in the boycott.

“I’m really proud to hear that there are so many organizations getting involved. I’m not sure why Formula One is not a part of that,” the British driver said Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix. “I do believe that social media companies need to do more. There’s algorithms, there’s things they’re able to see, they’re able to take steps to help and create more of an anti-racist society. That’s what we’ve really got to be pushing towards.”

“We’ve had enough of these cowards who hide behind their anonymity to spew out their noxious ideologies,” Čeferin said last week in Montreux, Switzerland.

UEFA has also acted in cases of online abuse when players criticized match officials. Neymar and Serge Aurier both missed Champions League games in recent seasons for offensive comments about referees on social media.

The English campaign this weekend followed British clubs Rangers, Birmingham and Swansea shutting down their social media for several days.

Former France and Arsenal forward Thierry Henry also shut down his social media accounts to protest against racism and bullying.

English soccer officials have urged the British government to enact laws making social media companies more accountable for what appears on their platforms.

https://indianexpress.com/article/s...h-soccers-4-day-social-media-boycott-7296372/

 

[MenInG]

Thierry Henry has called football’s social media boycott this weekend a “start” in the fight against racism and discrimination.

But the former Arsenal striker wants supporters to channel the same energy into combatting abuse as they did when they stood up to the proposed European Super League last week.

A coalition of English football’s largest governing bodies and organisations, including the Football Association, Premier League and EFL, are to go silent on social media in a show of solidarity against racism.

The FA Women’s Super League, FA Women’s Championship, Professional Footballers’ Association, League Managers’ Association, PGMOL, Kick It Out, Women in Football and the Football Supporters’ Association will also suspend all use of their accounts from 3pm on Friday until 11.59pm on Monday.

Last month Henry removed himself from social media because of racism and bullying across the platforms.

The 43-year-old told CNN Sport: “A lot of people are – I’m not saying waking up because everyone was aware of it – but now they’re loud about it and the same energy that they put with the Super League.

“It looks like we’re getting brave into trying to make those big companies answer to the question that we have, and I know it’s not easy also on their side, but that’s your job.

“(What) the world of English football is doing at the minute and what’s going to happen at the weekend, people ask me, ‘Is it enough, the weekend?’

“And I’m like, ‘It’s a start’. You know, you can’t be too greedy from not having anything to that. It’s a start.

“But yes, we have a voice, we have a voice all together. We can actually make people aware of our disapproval and hope that things can change. If you don’t do anything, nothing would ever change.

“Maybe not this year, maybe not in two years, maybe not in three years. Maybe we might not see it, but you have to do something while you are passing by.”

Since it was first announced, the boycott has grown as other sport governing bodies, sponsors, partners, broadcasters and media outlets have come on board.

European governing body UEFA will take part, as well as Scottish football, England Rugby, Scottish Rugby, British Cycling, the Rugby Football League, British Horseracing, the England and Wales Cricket Board, the Lawn Tennis Association and others.

Although Formula One will not take part following discussions, Sir Lewis Hamilton is also ready to join the boycott on the weekend of the Portuguese Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion, who has 22million followers on Instagram and more than six million on Twitter, said: “I am fully supportive of the initiative.

“If me doing it helps put pressure on those platforms in order to help fight against it then, for sure, I am happy to do so.”

Formula One has issued a statement supporting the boycott, saying: “We continue to work with all platforms and our own audiences to promote respect and positive values and put a stop to racism.”

https://www.bt.com/sport/news/2021/...e-start-in-fight-against-racism-thierry-henry

 

[Saj]

It won't make any difference.

Racism is all around us and not just on social media.

The social media trolls won't stop just because of this boycott.

 

[MenInG]

Football clubs, players, athletes and a number of sporting bodies have begun a four-day boycott of social media in an attempt to tackle abuse and discrimination on their platforms.

It began at 15:00 BST on Friday and will end on Monday at at 23:59 BST.

The "show of solidarity against online abuse" hopes to encourage companies to take a stronger stance against racist and sexist abuse by users.

Rugby union, cricket and rugby league have also joined the protest.

The Premier League released a statement prior to the four-day silence, saying it would not stop challenging companies "until discriminatory online abuse is removed from our game and wider society".

"We know that a boycott alone will not eradicate this, which is why we will continue to take proactive steps to call for change," the statement continued.

A number players posted a statement shortly before the protest began, while football clubs changed their Twitter feed icons to a blacked-out version of their logo.

Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips wrote: "Disappointed that we even have to be doing this. Social media should be a safe space for everyone.

"I really hope main platforms make it a priority to eradicate online abuse from their system. It's already a problem in society, let's do more to stop it online as well."

Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out says the boycott "signifies our collective anger", with football being joined by other sports.


Who is taking part?

Among the organisations boycotting Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are:

Football: Clubs from the Premier League, English Football League, Women's Super League, Scottish Professional Football League and Scottish women's football; governing bodies including the Football Association, Scottish FA, Football Association of Wales and Irish Football Association; European governing body Uefa; a number of other football organisations
Cricket: The England and Wales Cricket Board, first-class counties, women's regional teams and the Professional Cricketers' Association
Rugby union: England Rugby, Scottish Rugby, Welsh Rugby, France Rugby, Premiership Rugby, clubs and the Rugby Players' Association
Rugby league: The Rugby Football League, Super League Europe, Rugby League World Cup 2021 and the Rugby League Players' Association
Corporate bodies: Premier League and Women's Super League sponsor Barclays, England sponsor Nationwide, Adidas; broadcasters Sky Sports, BT Sport and Talksport
British Cycling, British Horseracing, Great Britain and England Hockey, England Netball and the Lawn Tennis Association are also involved.

The Duke of Cambridge, who is president of the FA, has also joined, alongside seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and Williams driver George Russell.

"I am fully supportive of the initiative and if me doing it helps put pressure on those platforms in order to help fight against it then, for sure, I am happy to do so," said Hamilton.

"I am really proud to hear there are so many organisations getting involved. I am not sure why Formula 1 is not a part of that."

Formula 1 said it was "wholly committed to combatting any form of discrimination, online or otherwise" and "supports" the sporting bodies and athletes involved in the boycott.

It is understood Formula 1 is not joining the boycott as it does not experience the same abuse issues on its social media.

The BBC said it could not take part in the campaign because of "special duties that don't apply to other organisations under our Royal Charter and editorial guidelines that prevent us from joining lobbying campaigns".

"We will continue to work hard, and publicly, to tackle social media abuse and to expose and challenge racism. And we'll continue to report extensively on the impact of social media hate - and this weekend's boycott - across our platforms," the corporation added.

What have players said?

Crystal Palace winger Andros Townsend told BBC Sport players were "starting to fight back", adding the boycott would "send a warning to these companies that if you don't start regulating your platforms, it's going to be an indefinite blackout".

Watford captain Troy Deeney told BBC Breakfast the social media boycott was a "huge step".

"For a long time now we've all been talking about the impact of social media on the younger generation, as well as mental health," he said.

"I think the huge part about this is it's only four days, it could give people a perspective of what life could be like without a huge amount of sporting stars on [social media]."

Deeney added that he receives abuse on a daily basis, which is also aimed at his partner and children.

"That's very difficult for me to read but also not to react," he said. "We have to not react, we're in a privileged position but if we react on a human level, we're the ones who will get held accountable for our reactions."

Former West Ham, Sunderland and QPR defender Anton Ferdinand told BBC Radio 5 Live it was "sad" the fight against online abuse had got to this point, but that football was "taking no more of it".

"There should be life bans, because we're talking about people's lives," he said.

"Some people don't get out of the slump they're in after being abused on social media, and that can lead to people harming themselves.

"We've got to take this very, very seriously."

Ferdinand also called on the UK government to do more.

"Has the energy from the government been the same as what it was when the [European] Super League was being spoken about? No it hasn't, and that's the disappointing thing," he said.

"When we're talking about pound notes and money involved, that's when people seem to act properly, and seem to act in the right way.

"The government haven't done that when it comes to discrimination on social media platforms, the energy isn't the same and that is one of the reasons why the social media companies aren't really taking heed of what is being said by the footballing bodies."

Burnley captain Ben Mee said he hoped social media companies "will take notice", telling BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: "There's plenty of technology out there that can help stop this abuse online, not just in football, sport, or in everyday general life.

"We need to protect young kids, young adults as well. And growing up with all this social media going on, it needs to be things put in place for these trolls and keyboard warriors to take responsibility for their actions."

Why are they doing this?

Two years ago, a number of footballers took part in the #Enough campaign - a 24-hour social media boycott in protest at online abuse.

But players across all sports continue to be subjected to racist abuse, with some clubs contacting police over the level of aggression.

An investigation by the Professional Footballers' Association, the players' union, found 56 abusive posts on Twitter in November 2020.

The PFA reported them to the platform but 31 of them are still visible, which the organisation described as "absolutely unacceptable".

On Friday, Manchester United revealed their own analysis had found a 350% increase in abuse directed towards the club's players, with 3,300 posts targeting players during the period September 2019 to February 2021.

It found 86% of those posts were racist, while 8% were homophobic or transphobic.

Three weeks ago, Swansea City were joined by Birmingham City and Rangers in turning off their social media accounts for a week to make a stand against abuse.

Former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry removed himself from social media in March because of racism and bullying across platforms.

A BBC Sport survey in August of elite British sportswomen found that one third of participants had suffered abuse on social media.

Some of football's governing bodies laid out the changes they would like to see in a letter to Facebook and Twitter in February.

The UK government has previously threatened social media companies with "large fines", which could amount to "billions of pounds" if they fail to tackle abuse on their platforms.

Individuals and football clubs have condemned the abuse, and it has been decided that collective action is the best way to bring about change.

What do the social media companies say?

Facebook, which owns Instagram, has said it is committed to tackling abuse on its platforms.

Instagram last week announced a tool to enable users to automatically filter out abusive messages from those they do not follow on the platform.

Twitter released a lengthy statement in February, stating it was "resolute in our commitment to ensure the football conversation on our service is safe for fans, players and everyone involved in the game".

The company added it had removed more than 7,000 football-related tweets in the UK that violated its rules.

BBC

 

[Technics 1210]

Utterly pointless. Will not make a difference. It is a lost cause. If they don't like social media, leave, no need to announce their departure, this isn't an airport.

BILLIONs use social media and if anyone has a shread of intelligence then they'd realise it is impossible to police every social media post.

But hey, it was perfectly acceptable to post vitirol and abuse towards Trump, because he deserved it according to SM/Lefty/Democrat users.

This is what happens when the media force a narrative upon society - the natural reaction is to reject it.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Utterly pointless. Will not make a difference. It is a lost cause. If they don't like social media, leave, no need to announce their departure, this isn't an airport.

BILLIONs use social media and if anyone has a shread of intelligence then they'd realise it is impossible to police every social media post.

But hey, it was perfectly acceptable to post vitirol and abuse towards Trump, because he deserved it according to SM/Lefty/Democrat users.

This is what happens when the media force a narrative upon society - the natural reaction is to reject it.

100%

This whole movement is a farce. Muslims are also abused daily esp Muslim sport stars, most simply ignore and move on.

You have to be real tender person to be upset reading anything on social media.

The real agenda is a continuation of the BLM movement, designed to divide people.

 

[Saj]

Footballers get racially abused on social media so they want a social media boycott.

What about the average person in the street who has to put up with this behaviour every day of their life and in everything they do.

 

[Technics 1210]

100%

This whole movement is a farce. Muslims are also abused daily esp Muslim sport stars, most simply ignore and move on.

You have to be real tender person to be upset reading anything on social media.

The real agenda is a continuation of the BLM movement, designed to divide people.

Absolutely true. BLM has had the reverse effect - it is dividing people and fueling a global race war. Our beloved SJWs don't see this but instead they justify the looting, violence, and racism, by BLM and cry for social media boycotts. Muppets don't realise if it hadn't been for social media, their cause would have about the same effect as a fly on a warship.

I guess the founder of BLM bailed for a life among white privledge because she knew BLM was a political stunt.

Boycott my foot, if there's another video of police brutality caught on camera, you can bet these multimillionaire sport stars would be the first to post on social media. Irony? The mega sport superstars are black.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the BLM stunt has destroyed the perception of progress for blacks by atleast 50 years.

 

[Bewal Express]

Issues are real but this is a total waste of time.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Absolutely true. BLM has had the reverse effect - it is dividing people and fueling a global race war. Our beloved SJWs don't see this but instead they justify the looting, violence, and racism, by BLM and cry for social media boycotts. Muppets don't realise if it hadn't been for social media, their cause would have about the same effect as a fly on a warship.

I guess the founder of BLM bailed for a life among white privledge because she knew BLM was a political stunt.

Boycott my foot, if there's another video of police brutality caught on camera, you can bet these multimillionaire sport stars would be the first to post on social media. Irony? The mega sport superstars are black.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the BLM stunt has destroyed the perception of progress for blacks by atleast 50 years.

Yes, even those didnt have issues with blacks now do. They witnessed rioting , looting , criminal damage, thousands gathering without police stopping them, while nurses protests or others were clamped down.

I think they are being taken for a ride.

Btw If someone is so against racism, which is correct, why dont they change their names which were given by slave owners.

Malcolm X was smart, he got it , these lot dont.

 

[Technics 1210]

Yes, even those didnt have issues with blacks now do. They witnessed rioting , looting , criminal damage, thousands gathering without police stopping them, while nurses protests or others were clamped down.

I think they are being taken for a ride.

Btw If someone is so against racism, which is correct, why dont they change their names which were given by slave owners.

Malcolm X was smart, he got it , these lot dont.

Not just witnessed the behaviour of BLM, but also the behaviour of the media which is cheering on BLM.

People have had enough. I don't need this ** shoved down my throat 24/7, and to then to be judged by SJWs as a racist because I don't accept forced fed propaganda through the media. It's not like I don't know what racism is, but reality is

Malcom X was light-years ahead of these clowns, and he was in the midst of the civil rights war.

BLM has reversed all progress and the situation is now worse than it was when MX was around.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Not just witnessed the behaviour of BLM, but also the behaviour of the media which is cheering on BLM.

People have had enough. I don't need this ** shoved down my throat 24/7, and to then to be judged by SJWs as a racist because I don't accept forced fed propaganda through the media. It's not like I don't know what racism is, but reality is

Malcom X was light-years ahead of these clowns, and he was in the midst of the civil rights war.

BLM has reversed all progress and the situation is now worse than it was when MX was around.

Malcolm would have been disgusted by these fools. They are being played like a whistle, falling for it hook, line and sinker.

What I dont understand is why BLM or its supporters do not care for African lives? There are 783 Million people in Africa without clean drinking water. They have only donated a small percentage when a larger chunk can saves lives quickly. Most of their funding money has gone to organisations in the west.

Lets not also forget racism by these people towards others inc Africans.

 

[Technics 1210]

Malcolm would have been disgusted by these fools. They are being played like a whistle, falling for it hook, line and sinker.

What I dont understand is why BLM or its supporters do not care for African lives? There are 783 Million people in Africa without clean drinking water. They have only donated a small percentage when a larger chunk can saves lives quickly. Most of their funding money has gone to organisations in the west.

Lets not also forget racism by these people towards others inc Africans.

Easy answer to why BLM don't care about African lives, the Western media never reports news from Africa.

BLM and SJWs only react to the news in the media. Police brutality was going on all year last ear, not a peep, one case of police brutality, sensationalised, and hey presto - BLM/SJWs subservient to the media's command.

Africa is where the real news is, it just cannot be sensationised for the desired effect in the West.

If the generation of today witnessed the harrowing images of Ethiopia famine in the 80s, they'd book an appointment with a psychiatrist.

 

[Mamoon]

Another useless drama.

It is incredible how the big institutions succumb to such pointless virtue signaling on the back of public pressure.

No spine at all.

What will happen on the fifth day when their boycott ends? What is the point of this?

The world has gone mad.

 

[Hasan123]

Instead of boycotting, why not come up with solutions on how to find people who abuse players on social media and come up with a punishment for them. This boycott won’t do anything.

 

[The_KING]

Nothing but PR stunt. These social media companies need to show some spine and not give into this BLM movement, which is a toxic movement.

Millions of people use social media every day. Millions of new posts and tweets are shared every day. There is no way Twitter, Instagram, Facebook can possibly monitor every single post.

Instead of crying about getting abused online, why don’t these sensitive snowflakes just quite social media? You don’t need social media to survive. But these people would not do that.

 

[MenInG]

No effect.

==

[Manchester City and England forward Raheem Sterling was racially abused on Instagram less than 48 hours after English football's social media boycott came to an end.

The abuse came in the wake of City's Champions League semi-final victory over Paris St Germain.

A spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram, said: "The racist abuse sent to Raheem Sterling is unacceptable and we do not want it on Instagram.

"We have removed the comment and taken action against the account that posted it.

"As part of our ongoing work in this space, we'll soon be rolling out new tools to help prevent people seeing abusive messages from strangers.

"No single thing will fix this challenge overnight but we're committed to doing what we can to keep our community safe from abuse."

Sterling has been the target of abuse on social media previously.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11679/12297696/raheem-sterling-manchester-city-forward-racially-abused-after-champions-league-semi-final-win