In a bid to register their protest against the online abuse and discrimination faced by the players, leading football clubs are observing a four-day boycott of social media platforms starting today. Other sport organisation bodies have also joined in along with corporate entities.
Football: The FA, Premier League, EFL, FA Women’s Super League, FA Women’s Championship, PFA, LMA, PGMOL, Kick It Out and the FSA will boycott from Friday to Monday.
The Scottish FA, Scottish Professional Football League, Scottish Women’s Football and PFA Scotland have also confirmed the participation of clubs and football organisations in Scotland.
Other sports organisations: England and Wales Cricket Board, England Rugby, Premiership Rugby, Scottish Rugby, the Professional Darts Corporation, British Cycling, the Lawn Tennis Association and British horseracing have joined.
Broadcasters: BT Sport, Sky Sports, At The Races, talkSPORT.
Union of European Football Association (UEFA) also gave its backing on Thursday, urging players, clubs and national associations “to lodge formal complaints whenever players, coaches, referees or officials are victims of unacceptable tweets or messages”.
A joint statement released on Saturday by all the participating English football organisations said: “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.
“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 Online Abuse roundtable earlier this week.”
In 2019, many footballers took part in the ‘Enough Campaingn’, a 24-hour social media boycott against online excuses. But there hasn’t been any decrease in the incidents. An investigation by the Professional Footballers’ Association, the players’ union, found 56 abusive posts on Twitter in November 2020.
Three weeks ago, Swansea City were joined by Birmingham City and Rangers in turning off their social media accounts for a week to record their protest.
