Social networks on a smartphone (illustration). – Jaap Arriens / Sipa USA / SIPA
English football is mobilizing against racism. Clubs to set up a three-day full social media blackout over the weekend of May 1 to protest the “continued and sustained discriminatory abuse received online by players and many other football-related people », Announced their governing bodies on Saturday evening.
This boycott, which will affect the English Football Federation, Premier League, Second Division and Women’s Super League clubs, will begin on Friday April 30 at 2 p.m. and end on Monday May 3 at 10.59 p.m. action has been scheduled to take place across the entire male and female professional football fixture list ”and will see all English football representative bodies“ close their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts ”.
The example of the Rangers
“Racist behavior is unacceptable, and the appalling abuse of players on social media cannot continue,” Premier League CEO Richard Masters said. “There is an urgent need for these companies to do more to eradicate racial hatred online.”
This decision also follows the one already implemented by the Scottish Rangers club and the English Football League clubs of Birmingham and Swansea, whose players Yan Dhanda, Ben Cabango and Jamal Lowe have recently been the victims of insults. racists online. Since the start of the year, several players of color wearing Manchester United shirts such as Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, as well as Reece James of Chelsea have also been targeted on social media.
End of non-receipt of Twitter
On February 11, in an open letter to Twitter leader Jack Dorsey and Facebook leader Mark Zuckerberg, English football officials called for action “for reasons of simple human decency.” But Twitter responded that it did not intend to censor comments from anonymous accounts.