A host of European football clubs will be boycotting all social media this week to protest the abuse and discrimination that has become associated with these platforms.
Premier League, English Football League and Women’s Super League clubs will be taking part in the action, which will start on April 30.
The initiative has been spearheaded by Kick it Out, an anti-discrimination charity.
English football will unite for a social media boycott, from 3pm on Fri 30 April to Mon 3 May, in response to the sustained discriminatory abuse received online by players and others connected to the game. Full story 👇🏽 https://t.co/VJdVDalDex pic.twitter.com/zNUZ29W0LE
— Kick It Out (@kickitout) April 24, 2021
“This boycott signifies our collective anger,” said Kick it Out’s chairman Sanjay Bhandari.
“Social media is now sadly a regular vessel for toxic abuse.
“By removing ourselves from the platforms, we are making a symbolic gesture to those with power. We need you to act. We need you to create change.
“We need social media companies to make their platforms a hostile environment for trolls rather than for the football family.”
Earlier this month, Welsh club Swansea City boycotted its social media to protest racial abuse that had been levelled at some of its players.
“This decision has been taken as a result of conversations between senior club staff, players and management,” Swansea City said. “As a football club, we have seen several of our players subjected to abhorrent abuse in the past seven weeks alone, and we feel it is right to take a stand against behaviour that is a blight on our sport, and society at large.”
The club also sent a statement to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to urge the social media platforms to do more in terms of addressing issues around online abuse.
