Is football’s battle against racism lost on social media?

When it comes to racist abuse online, football seems to have had enough. Again.

And yet, it comes nearly two years after big stars took part in a campaign called “ #Enough, ” a 24-hour social media boycott to protest a similar wave of abuse.

Now the same demands are made for tech platforms to do more. So is the battle lost? Why is it so difficult to tackle this problem? And where is this crisis going?

It’s time to take responsibility

The pressure on social media platforms is intensifying. The appetite for more regulation is growing.

Last week, the Premier League said tech companies “need to do more”, calling for “faster removal of offensive messages and better identification and banning of violators”.

Manchester United, with three of their squad subjected to despicable messages, urged the creation of verifiable and identifiable accounts so that violators can be caught, claiming that they and the players are “tired” of it, arguing that no one should face such hatred. abused in their workplace.

The Duke of Cambridge, who is also president of the Football Association, praised those who spoke out and called for an end to the “despicable” abuse.

Writing on Twitter, Prince William also spoke about the need for social media companies to improve their game.

“We all have a responsibility to create an environment where such abuses are not tolerated, and those who choose to spread hatred and division are held accountable for their actions. This responsibility extends to the platforms where it is currently taking place. a lot of that activity, ”he said.

The Professional Footballers Association, which represents the players, has called on the tech giants to prevent users from being able to post explicitly racist terms and emojis. “Although racist abuse is allowed to continue on every platform, we can only conclude that it is a choice of companies managing social media,” he said.

Sending such reviews to platforms is not an easy task. We asked for an interview on Twitter about this in 2019. We’re still waiting for one.

Our request last week for an interview with Facebook – the owner of Instagram – was met with a brief statement saying, “There is no room for racism on Instagram and we pledge to remove it when we We find it. We know there is more to and will continue to work closely with football clubs, players and authorities to investigate cases of discrimination and collectively tackle this issue. “

Twitter also released a statement: “Racist behavior has no place on our service and when we identify accounts that violate any of Twitter’s rules, we take enforcement action.

“We are proactively engaged and continue to work with our valued partners in football to identify ways to collectively tackle this issue and will continue to play our part in addressing this unacceptable behavior – online and offline. . “

New legislation

The government, meanwhile, has pledged to continue plans for new ‘revolutionary’ online harm legislation later this year to hold tech companies legally responsible for their users’ online safety and hold them accountable to a regulator. – Ofcom – on abusive content.

Racist messages should be removed “without delay”. The proposals include the threat of massive fines of up to 10% of global revenue if companies fail to meet their obligations, and there could even be criminal penalties for senior executives.

Behind the scenes I am told that while football authorities were encouraged by the recent meeting, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden hosted with players to discuss online abuse, There are concerns about how long it will take to introduce new laws considered late, and fears they will be watered down if the hugely powerful US-based tech companies succeed and threaten to invest elsewhere.

But according to Kick It Out CEO Sanjay Bhandari, the legislation – as well as President Joe Biden’s promise of more regulation in the United States – is cause for optimism.

“The cavalry is on the way,” the head of the anti-discrimination organization told the BBC.

“Hope is on the horizon, but it might not come quickly enough, so there are things we need to do now on social media. Behavioral and cultural issues will take longer to resolve. This is the technological problem that we can solve faster and the answers can be found on Twitter and Facebook. The technology has been massively unregulated for 25 years and it is time that we close this loophole. “

Frustrations

Some members of the Premier League – which last year launched a dedicated ‘quick response’ reporting system for players – say social media platforms have improved in recent years, but not enough. There has been success with the removal of posts, but officials want more effort to help authorities find perpetrators so that they can be banned by clubs (if they are fans) or even prosecuted.

Although there have been successful prosecutions – an Irish teenager is due to be sentenced Wednesday for sending racist abuse to former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright – these are rare when the scale abuse is considered.

An insider said league officials felt embarrassed by what they called impregnable and callous tech companies using privacy, free speech and the weight of traffic as reasons not to pass on information that would help identify offenders. The fear is that the police – without the resources to prosecute all possible crimes – will only intervene in the most serious cases, and attackers know they run little risk of punishment. Court orders must be obtained to force the platform to cooperate, evidence must be gathered and often the offenders are overseas in different jurisdictions.

Another challenge is persuading players to take legal action, which can often seem like a daunting prospect.

The defense of big-tech

While admitting that there is “more to do,” Facebook points out that it is working with Kick It Out on a fan education and reporting initiative, and has built tools designed to prevent unwanted contact on Instagram. It also tripled the size of its security team to 35,000, claiming to have taken proactive action against tens of millions of hate speeches last year. But given the immense wealth of these companies, many believe that more investment should be made.

Tech companies say tackling this problem isn’t as straightforward as many assume. They have other areas of concern that also need to be watched on their vast unregulated platforms; from suspected terrorism and pedophilia to the spread of disinformation.

Simply preventing certain discriminatory words or emojis from being used in the first place is problematic, as they can also be used in a non-offensive context, and across global platforms can have different meanings in different communities or territories. Businesses can block devices for repeat offenders, but that person can then simply use a different device.

Many are now calling for an end to anonymity which provides a shield for many abusers with a mandatory verification process which means users must give their passport details, for example before opening an account. Given the mistrust of the use of personal data by social media platforms, however, there are concerns that this could pose a threat to activists, whistleblowers and persecuted minorities who need to protect their online identity.

Many also point out that in recent years, racist comments have been posted on social media by fully verified accounts.

Could football do more?

There are also those who believe that the time has come for football authorities and clubs to invest more and ease the burden of reporting to players.

“The problem is, the systems they’ve put in place require a player to receive and report abuse themselves, and by then the damage is already done,” said Jonathan Hirshler, CEO of Signify, a scientific data society that uses artificial intelligence to discover the identity of attackers.

“The technology is here, using AI and open source data, to unmask the vile and prolific aggressors.

“It is also important that football shifts from reactive to proactive, in order to detect abuse before players are forced to do so and to gather evidence in a way that social platforms and authorities have little to do with. no choice but to act. So we need a new approach, one that works constructively with the platforms, to ensure that attackers have nowhere to hide. “

There’s no time to lose. In the last six weeks of last season, a joint PFA and Signify study identified more than 3,000 explicitly abusive messages aimed at Premier League players, 56% of which were racist. Among the players surveyed, 43% said they had been victims of targeted racist abuse.

Football has become a lightning rod for a larger societal problem. The scale of the challenge facing sport is significant and appears to be getting worse. Finding a solution, however, is far from easy.