Punish social media firms for abuse, say PFA
THE Professional Footballers’ Association have called for the government to allow social media companies to be punished if they fail f to crack down on racist abuse of players.
Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha and Sheffield United’s david Mcgoldrick M were the latest Premier League players to reveal vile messages were sent to them on Instagram last weekend.
Zaha subsequently urged social media m firms to do more and demand full details from anyone wanting w to set up an account to stop racist trolls being able to hide their t identities.
The PFA have been trying to force f the issue on behalf of their members m since a spate of incidents earlier this season.
The government announced they were ‘minded’ to extend communications watchdog Ofcom’s remit and appoint them as an online regulator in February in a bid to protect internet users.
The development was welcomed by Ofcom, though no regulator has yet been officially appointed. Lockdown has been one obstacle in the process.
Ofcom chief executive dame Melanie dawes told MPs last month they are ready to impose fines on social media companies who fail to deal with harmful content as part of their operation. She also vowed to ‘shine a light’ and ‘ hold them to account’ if Ofcom were appointed.
PFA equalities coach Iffy Onuora said: ‘We need to look now at the authorities to empower regulatory bodies such as Ofcom to come down heavily on the social media companies.
‘germany enacted legislation in 2018 that means there are fines of up to €50million (£45m) if they don’t take down illegal content within 24 hours.
‘Australia enacted similar legislation last year, criminal punishments for social media executives, including jail sentences of up to three years and fines of 10 per cent of global turnover.
‘In context, newspapers have been around for centuries, television nearly 100 years, social media companies are barely out of their teens.
‘We understand that, but they’ve assumed a power far greater than ever and with that power comes responsibility and comes regulation. newspapers and TV have to be regulated relative to their power. It’s only fair social media companies have to follow suit.’