ARSENAL STARS LOOK AT SOCIAL MEDIA BOYCOTT

ARSENAL players have held talks about following the lead of club legend Thierry Henry and boycotting social media in protest at online abuse. The club increased the pressure on social media companies to tackle the issue by launching their own campaign called #StopOnlineAbuse yesterday. Gunners players have been heavily involved in wide-ranging discussions on the issue in the lead-up to yesterday’s launch of their own action plan to stamp out ‘hateful, racist and discriminatory words’. In conversations held between club chiefs and players from the men’s and women’s teams, the idea was raised of the squads taking matters into their own hands and all coming off platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. Henry (right) became the most high-profile sports star to decide enough was enough and quit social media. The former striker disabled his accounts on Saturday, vowing not to reactivate them until the companies ‘regulate their platforms with the same vigour and ferocity that they currently do when you infringe copyright’. He added: ‘It is far too easy to create an account, use it to bully and harass without consequence and still remain anonymous. The sheer volume of racism, bullying and resulting mental torture to individuals is too toxic to ignore.’ Arsenal stars have been subjected to racist abuse online, and Granit Xhaka has spoken about the issue, having had messages aimed at his family.

There is a growing sense among the Premier League clubs that, in the continued absence of any firm action from social media companies, a tipping point is coming and it will not be long before a club’s entire squad decide to make a collective stand. Arsenal issued a fourpoint list of demands to social media companies, including calls for users to be verified with ID, that offensive messages be blocked before they are even received and for sites to significantly improve their measures to deal with abuse. Arsenal have also set up a taskforce to provide ‘emotional and practical’ support to their players if they receive abuse. That back-up will include members of the club’s legal, security and stadium teams, as well as executives and the media and communications department. They will advise on how to protect and manage accounts but also be on hand to help if players receive abuse. Arsenal have vowed to ban any member guilty of sending abuse and to support legal action.