English soccer and cricket clubs and other sporting bodies begin a four-day boycott of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, protesting abuse on the platforms
BBC
Context & Ripple Effects
The boycott follows Instagram’s February pledge of stricter penalties for abusive direct messages aimed at protecting footballers. By acting together across soccer, cricket, and other sports, the organizations turn a player-safety dispute into a coordinated test of the platforms’ moderation response.
The action also begins an accountability campaign that English soccer organizations continued to pursue in later coverage, rather than a one-off objection to individual abusive posts.
First-order effects
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram lose four days of official participation from the participating sporting bodies, while those organizations concentrate attention on abuse directed at athletes.
The participating clubs and governing bodies publicly make platform enforcement a condition of their continued engagement with fans on those services.
Second-order effects
Instagram’s newly announced abuse penalties face sharper scrutiny, while Facebook and Twitter are pressed to demonstrate comparable protections rather than leave enforcement to individual clubs.
Sports leagues and rights-holders are becoming organized counterparties to social platforms on safety and illegal-content enforcement, not merely major publishers on them; a later joint demand to X for action on illegal soccer content shows that the pressure broadened beyond abuse alone.
If such coalitions keep tying participation to enforcement, platform relationships with sports organizations will increasingly be governed by content-safety commitments alongside reach and promotion.
The trend: Major sports organizations are using their audience access collectively to demand more accountable content moderation from social platforms.
We are switching off our social media channels from 3pm on Friday 30 April, until 23:59pm on Monday 3 May, in response to sustained and ongoing online abuse. #Enough | #StopOnlineAbuse https://twitter.com/...
I will be taking part in #NoRoomForRacism social media boycott which starts tomorrow at 3pm & ends on Monday. Online abuse & racism is out of control. It's time SM companies like @Facebook & @Twitter start taking online abuse seriously! #KickItOut https://twitter.com/... https://…
Is a social media boycott going to solve racism? No and no one thinks that it is or is saying that. Is it going to send a message to the likes of Twitter and Facebook that they must do more to limit abuse? Yes - their revenues will drop which is the only way to speak to them.
Social media companies like @Facebook & @Twitter need to take online abuse and racism seriously. There's #NoRoomForRacism and I will be taking part in the boycott from 3pm today and ends on Monday. #KickItOut https://twitter.com/...
Gathering opinion as I've been asked by a few different people now. Do you include YouTube as social media? Do you think this football boycott should include things like YouTube, Twitch, Discord, basically other social media apps that aren't Facebook / Instagram / Twitter?
This social media boycott is ridiculous. Just as bad as that Instagram blackout thing 🤣 will do absolutely nothing, the virtue signaling in the UK is beyond
@ParrottHenry @footbalIfights @IanWright0 @alanshearer We know that a boycott alone will not eradicate it, which is why we continue to take proactive steps to call for change We will not stop challenging social media companies until discriminatory online abuse is removed from our…
As English football begins its social media boycott, Facebook and Twitter still won't answer questions from the media about stopping racist abuse beyond releasing anonymous statements
I am going to take part in the #NoRoomForRacism boycott of social media from 3pm today until the end of Monday. Companies like @Twitter and @Facebook have failed to take action to eradicate racism and other vile abuse from their platforms. It's time to #TakeAStand
@nocontextfm1 The boycott won't cause any difference. Same thing as the black squares on Instagram. You'll still get people sending abuse behind a picture of their favourite football team.
Am no fan of big money football, but stand in solidarity with all who face discrimination and abuse. So will stand united with everyone taking part and join the boycott over the next few days. There should be no space for online hate. #onlinesafetybill https://www.premierleague.c…
We are switching off our social media channels from 3pm on Friday 30 April, until 23:59pm on Monday 3 May, in response to sustained and ongoing online abuse. #Enough | #StopOnlineAbuse https://twitter.com/...
If you want to know why social media companies have to do more to #StopOnlineAbuse, give this video of myself and @IanWright0 a watch. #NoRoomForRacism https://twitter.com/...
This weekend I will be joining the social media boycott to stand with others against the abuse, racism and hatred that people face online. It's time for change #StopOnlineAbuse
A humbling and powerful conversation between @IanWright0 and @AlanShearer We know this video will not stop online abuse, but in sharing this, we want to highlight the seriousness of what we're demanding of social media platforms #NoRoomForRacism | #StopOnlineAbuse https://twitter…
Today, from 3pm, English football and other sports, organisations and individuals stand together against online abuse. We are switching off our social media channels until Monday 23:59pm. Join us and switch off too, as we collectively demand change. #Enough | #StopOnlineAbuse htt…
English football, alongside other sports, organisations and individuals, will switch off social media accounts from 3pm today until 11.59pm on Monday 3 May. Social media companies must do more to #StopOnlineAbuse. Join me and switch off too, as we collectively demand change. http…
We join clubs, players and organisations in this weekend's social media boycott. Abuse and discrimination of any kind are not welcome. This has to stop. #SeeRed #StopOnlineAbuse https://twitter.com/...
When we come together we can make a difference. Let's make this weekend's social media boycott a step in the right direction to ending online abuse. #Enough #StopOnlineAbuse https://twitter.com/...