Swansea City has announced that everyone associated with the club will boycott all forms of social media over the next seven days in an effort to encourage companies to improve their anti-addiction practices.
Countless players and clubs have called on social media companies to improve their methods of combating abuse on their platforms, but these changes have not yet been implemented and players such as the Swansea trio Yan Dhanda, Ben Cabango and Jamal Lowe have all been focused on recently.
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Lowe was a target for the recent abuse of Athena Pictures / Getty Images
In a statement on their official website, Swansea described the abuse as ‘disgusting’ and insisted that it was time to act in the fight against discrimination online, and as a result, everyone associated with the club will not publish anything on social media in seven days.
Instead, fans are encouraged to visit the Swansea website for all their news and updates, which will still be published regularly for the next seven days before the team returns to social media on the evening of April 5th.
Using the hashtag ‘#EnoughIsEnough’, Swansea hopes to encourage other teams and players to join their boycott and show social media companies that repeated statements condemning abuse are no longer enough.
Swansea City have chosen to take a club-wide stance in the fight against abuse and discrimination of all forms on social media.
From kl. 17 today we will not post any content on our official social media channels in seven days. # EnoughIsEnough
? https://t.co/rmHXB0j2l7 pic.twitter.com/fKqKqHl8Ag
– Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) April 8, 2021
As part of the initiative, Swansea’s CEO Julian Winter has sent letters to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to personally encourage them to impose stricter police work and punishment on anyone who has been guilty of the ‘terrible and cowardly abuse that has unfortunately taken place. too common ‘.
“As a close and versatile group of players, this is what we all feel extremely passionate about,” said captain Matt-Grimes, first team.
“Three of our troops have been subjected to racial abuse in recent weeks and as a group and club we wanted to take this position when we once again call on those who are at the forefront of social media companies to implement the change needed now and in the future.
“I think it’s amazing that we’re still talking about racism and abuse of this kind. We are very aware of the pressure in football at this level, but it should not be underestimated how such levels of abuse can affect anyone.
Grimes supports the Athena Pictures / Getty Images movement
“Social media has yielded so many positive results over the last decade, but the morbid and heinous abuse we see daily and every week is completely unacceptable, and we hope that this attitude across the club will be supported by all.
“We are a family and we will always stand shoulder to shoulder with each other, whether it is on the pitch or helping to fight injustice outside of it.”
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