The Busby Babe joins English Football’s Social Media Boycott

The FA, Premier League, EFL, FA Women’s Super League, FA Women’s Championship, PFA, LMA, PGMOL, Kick It Out, Women In Football and the FSA will unite for a social media boycott from the afternoon of Friday 30th April until the night of Monday 3rd May in response to the ongoing and sustained discriminatory abuse received online by players and many others connected to football.

This has been scheduled to take place across a full fixture schedule in the men’s and women’s professional game and will see clubs across the Premier League, EFL, WSL and Women’s Championship switch off their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

In solidarity with the cause, the following SB Nation Soccer Premier League blogs (and one Serie A blog, joining in solidarity) will also be honoring a similar period of silence on their social media accounts:

Arsenal – The Short Fuse

Aston Villa – 7500 to Holte

Everton – Royal Blue Mersey

Fiorentina – Viola Nation

Leicester City – Fosse Posse

Liverpool – The Liverpool Offside

Manchester United – The Busby Babe

Newcastle – Coming Home Newcastle

Tottenham – Cartilage Free Captain

This boycott alone will not stop the stream of hateful commentary that pervades through social media nowadays, but is more of a call to action for all of us as football fans to stand together and stamp this out of the game. We encourage each one of you to take a minute to think about what you, personally, can do to make the game we all love a kinder, more inclusive space and to help drive racism and abuse off social media.

We here at The Busby Babe understand that 4 days of inactivity on our social media channels will have little material effect on how the relevant authorities — in football, and in social media — handle racist abuse. Some may see this exercise as performative, and we certainly understand that view. But ultimately, we thought it important to do something.

We hope to use this boycott as an opportunity to reflect on how we can do better: in the stories we tell, the voices we amplify, and the kind of community that we cultivate.

We thank you for your support.