A Gareth Bale social media boycott was recently declared possible by the Welshman, with its aims being to stop online racist abuse. The Tottenham Hotspur attacker did admit, however, that he would only undertake it alongside a widespread effort from footballers.
Gareth Bale Open to Social Media Boycott
Bale Prepared to Deactivate Social Media Accounts
The Welsh international spoke about the potential for boycotting social media after two of his team-mates, Rabbi Matondo and Ben Cabango, suffered racist abuse online after Wales’ victory over Mexico on Saturday.
Bale said he was open to joining a campaign if it can gain support across football, saying: “If everyone did it at once, not just one or two people, I would.
“If it was a campaign where a lot of influential people in sport and other forms of life on social media make a statement, then I think it could help. If that was the case, I’m all for that.”
Speaking ahead of Wales’ clash with the Czech Republic on Tuesday, the 31-year-old went on to push for social media platforms to take more action in the fight against racism, saying: “It’s very disappointing and something needs to happen in terms of the social media companies. To get an account, you need to put your passport in.
“I think that will stop people saying things because then you will be able to trace them down and hold them accountable.”
Footballers Can Take Necessary Action Where Social Media Platforms Do Not
Bale’s comments followed Thierry Henry announcing that he was disabling his social media accounts due to the racism he was seeing online, saying it was “too toxic to ignore”.
Henry is the first high-profile football personality to take this stand, but his actions will only bring about change if other celebrities in the sport pursue similar actions.
Bale adding support to this cause will help keep the conversation alive and possibly encourage other footballers to take this stand.
This can be crucial in ending racist abuse on social media, which has been rampant in recent times. Without action from the biggest names in the sport, we are unlikely to see the end of the news stories of footballers receiving abuse online that have been circulating regularly for far too long.
Each time one of these incidents happens, we see statements from representatives of social media platforms, such as the one given by a Facebook and Instagram spokesperson to Sky Sports after Matondo and Cabango’s abuse.
The statement read: “We don’t want racist abuse on Instagram and have removed the accounts that sent these messages to Ben Cabango and Rabbi Matondo this weekend.”
Little action has been taken to rectify the situation again, and we are likely to see the same response again and again.
It is up to the influential characters in football to join Henry’s stand or take similar action if we are to see the end of these incidents any time soon. Their actions can be meaningful where the businesses running these platforms can’t be.
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