Exclusive: PFA call for Government to accelerate Online Harms Bill
The Professional Footballers Association will tell the Government to fast-track the Online Harms Bill following the racist abuse suffered by Wilfried Zaha and David McGoldrick on social media.
Premier League players will also support a further 24-hour blackout of platforms who refuse to take action against abusers following last season’s impactful blackout, should they continue to be targeted without punishment.
The PFA union are set for talks with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport where they will urge legislation for online protection to be accelerated.
“We feel strongly that the Government has no excuse not to accelerate the process the proposed legislation for online harm,” said a senior PFA source.
Zaha has received more abuse on Instagram since the weekend when a 12-year-old was arrested for sending the Crystal Palace forward racist messages. The Ivory Coast international posted screenshots of messages which threatened "you better not score tomorrow you black c***", with another image of the Ku Klux Klan.
McGoldrick, the Sheffield United striker, scored his first Premier League goals of the season but was subjected to racist taunts and called an “ape”. He posted the abuse with the caption "2020 and this is life".
Last April players backed the media blackout with the #Enough hashtag as a protest against abuse online and on the pitch. This came after high-profile incidents including Troy Deeney, Ashley Young and Chris Smalling being abused online, while black England players were targeted with monkey chants when they faced Montenegro, who received punishment of €20,000 and playing one match behind closed doors.
The Online Harms Bill was unveiled last year with the aim of holding websites to account should they fail to tackle harmful content online.
It is currently in the "White Paper" proposal stage but the PFA will put forward a case that action against abusers is now critical, with fears the bill could take years before it is put in place.
Zaha has suffered more abuse since the weekend and has urged action to hold social-media users accountable.
“Unless people give proper full details, they should not be allowed an account,” he said. "These stupid racist cowards, that's all they do, hide behind accounts. "It is going to carry on, we can put it everywhere, we can put it on the news, wherever, but it's going to carry on.”
Chris Wilder, McGoldrick’s manager at Sheffield United, has advised his players to boycott social media permanently.
“Every minute, day, month and year I would advise them not to be on social media but they have their brand,” he said. “It is part and parcel of the world now and it wasn’t around in the time I was playing but it is here to stay.
“It comes it’s demons and the demons we are seeing now are not good for anybody. You always think more should be done and it doesn’t seem to be by the platforms or the police and it will continue to happen unless action is taken.”
