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Racism in Soccer: The Technology-Fueled Abuse on Social Media
Over the past years, the emergence of social media has seen a significant increase in racism that has affected soccer players across the world. Online racism is the new form of discrimination, fuelled by technology, and invading social media platforms 24/7. Players endure monkey emojis, racial slurs, and offensive comments on different social media accounts. The latest incident occurred during the UEFA EURO 2020 when three Black players from England’s national team faced harsh racial abuse after missing penalties in a major international soccer final against Italy. As a result, it has become an integral part of the sport, affecting players’ confidence, mental health, and performance.
Lack of Accountability and Accessibility
The prevalence of online racism in soccer has been reported to the Kick It Out, an anti-discrimination campaigner, and according to them, racism is the primary form of abuse in English soccer over the past three seasons. As per last year’s report from FIFA, more than 50% of players who competed in two international tournaments in 2021 received some form of discriminatory abuse on social media platforms. Sadly, the problem continues since the offenders remain anonymous and can easily access players’ handles. Racism is once again prevalent in the sport, with players subjected to monkey chants and banana-throwing in a modern era of social media.
Players Using Social Media Despite Racial Abuse
Despite online racism, players cannot shy away from social media platforms. They are an essential tool for marketing and promote their brands and endorsements, but the same platform becomes a paradox for them. Soccer players with vast followings on social media have experienced racial abuse, including Kylian Mbappe, who has more than 104 million Instagram followers and Vinícius Júnior, who has 38 million Instagram followers. Despite such deterrents, the players have not extinguished their social media presence, which emphasizes the need for proper regulation of social media platforms.
Reducing Exposure to Offensive Users
Players and soccer teams have come up with ways to raise awareness and reduce their exposure to offensive users on social media. One of the solutions involves the Use of Artificial Intelligence software to counter racist comments. GoBubble, a company that sets up AI software, configures it to filter out discriminatory comments, violent, and potentially harmful words. The software scans messages and deletes or filters out offensive comments using a traffic-light system. Additionally, governing bodies have sough solutions during FIFA tournaments and social media blackouts to boycott racist abuse. However, despite the efforts, there has been little effect since social media platforms remain slow to block racist posts, remove offenders’ accounts, or verify the account holders’ identities.
Legislative Action and Alternative Platforms
The biggest change will likely come from legislative action. The European Union is currently working on enacting the Digital Services Act, which will force social media platforms into better practices, including ridding the platforms of hate speeches and racist comments. Moreover, some soccer teams and players are slowly moving towards alternative platforms. Roberto Carlos and Gilberto Silva, both World Cup winners with Brazil in 2002, have endorsed Striver, a user-generated content platform. Meanwhile, PixStory, a platform with almost 1 million users, ranks users based on their post’s ethical and moral integrity, raising the issue of “clean social” and prioritizing user’s online safety.
Conclusion
Online racism has become a significant problem in the soccer world, with the social media platforms becoming the breeding ground for racist comments, slurs, and messages directed towards soccer players of different ethnicities. The players continue to endure these attacks, affecting their mental health and performance. The problem continues unchecked, with little accountability from social media platforms leading to the race for alternative platforms providing a safer space for soccer players and their fans.
FAQs
1. What is the primary form of abuse reported in English soccer, as per statistics from the past three seasons?
According to statistics from the past three seasons, racism is the predominant form of abuse reported in English soccer.
2. Why do soccer players continue to use social media despite being subjected to racial abuse?
Social media is an essential tool for marketing and promoting brands and endorsements. Therefore, soccer players cannot avoid social media, although it means becoming a subject of racial abuse.
3. How are players and soccer organizations reducing their exposure to offensive users on social media?
Companies such as GoBubble are providing AI software to filter out discriminatory comments and remove potentially harmful words based on a traffic-light system. Governing bodies such as UEFA and FIFA have initiated social media blackouts and tournaments’ in-tournament moderation service which prevented racist and other forms of hate speech from being seen online by players and their followers.
4. What sort of alternative platforms are soccer teams and players turning to?
Striver, a user-generated content platform backed by Roberto Carlos and Gilberto Silva, and PixStory, a platform with almost 1 million users, ranks users based on their post’s ethical and moral integrity, offering a safer online space.
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