It has not been long since the world witnessed strong reactions and passionate protests on the European super league. The solidarity and vocality of fans worldwide were great to see. This was an example of how change can come about when many people and organisations stand together against something.
A question that has been on the minds of many during recent times is: what could we achieve if the same passion and disgust were shown against racism and discrimination in football?
A coalition of English footballs largest governing bodies and organisations have announced a social media blackout that is currently taking place. It started on Friday 30th April and will end today (Monday 3rd May). Will this 4-day social media boycott help to fight against this problem or is it just another pointless gesture?
The Effects of Social Media
Social media platforms were a massive part of the protests and it demonstrated the power and effect social media can have. Unfortunately, many social media platforms have been used to send hateful and abusive messages to footballers based on the colour of their skin, culture, sexuality, or gender. It seems like we come back to this topic every year, but no significant actions are being made against it.
Earlier this year Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden hosted a meeting with players to discuss online abuse but there are concerns about how long it will take to introduce new laws and fears that these laws may be redundant if these massive US tech companies threaten to invest elsewhere.
However, according to Kick It Out chief executive Sanjay Bhandari, the legislation – along with the promise of more regulation in the US from President Joe Biden – are grounds for optimism.
New Legislation?
MP Julie Elliott has called for a discussion in the House of Parliament to talk about these issues and decide what action can be taken. However, can social media companies do more to fight against racism and discrimination on their platforms?
Although there has been an improvement in removing hate speeches on social media, tech companies may argue that tackling this problem is not as straight forward as many assume. There are numerous areas of concern that must be monitored across their vast, unregulated platforms.
Problems such as suspected terrorism, paedophilia, to the spread of misinformation.
Possible Solutions?
Many are calling for an end to the anonymity that provides a shield for abusers. This would mean a mandatory verification process would be implemented by providing legit identification before being able to open an account. Given the mistrust over the use of personal data by social media platforms, however, there are concerns that this information could potentially be used wrongly and could be damaging if it gets into the wrong hands.
It will be a tricky task to accomplish however with the right investment into security precautions and new laws that protect against the misuse of personal information by social media platforms, this could be a very good method to tackling this problem.
Nobody should have to deal with racism and discrimination, and this applies to professional football players as well. What do you think can be done about this huge problem in sport? Do you think football can do more to tackle this?
Written by Joshua Iyobhebhe (InZone Plug)