Swansea announce 7-day social media boycott in fight against abuse

Swansea City have announced everyone associated with the club will boycott all forms of social media over the next seven days in an attempt to encourage companies to improve their anti-abuse procedures.

Countless players and clubs have called on social media firms to improve their methods for combating abuse on their platforms, but those changes are yet to be brought in and players like Swansea trio Yan Dhanda, Ben Cabango and Jamal Lowe have all been targeted recently.

In a statement on their official website, Swansea described the abuse as 'abhorrent' and insisted it is time to act in the fight against discrimination online, and as a result, everyone associated with the club will not post anything on social media for seven days.

Instead, fans are encouraged to head to the Swansea website for all their news and updates, which will still be posted regularly over the next seven days before the team returns to social media on the evening of April 5.

Using the hashtag '#EnoughIsEnough', Swansea hope to encourage other teams and players to join their boycott and show social media companies that repeated statements condemning abuse is not enough anymore.

As part of the initiative, Swansea executive Julian Winter has sent letters to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to personally encourage them to introduce more stringent policing and punishments for anyone found guilty of the 'appalling and cowardly abuse that has sadly become far too common'.

“As a close and diverse group of players, this is something we all feel extremely passionate about,” said first-team captain Matt Grimes.

“Three of our squad have been racially abused in recent weeks and, as a squad and club, we wanted to take this stance as we again call on those at the forefront of social media companies to implement the change that is needed now and in the future.

“I find it staggering that we are still talking about racism and abuse of this kind. We are acutely aware of the pressures within football at this level, but it shouldn’t be underestimated as to how such levels of abuse can affect someone.

“Social media has provided so many positives over the last decade, however, the sickening and vile abuse that we are seeing on a daily and weekly basis is wholly unacceptable, and we hope that this stance across the club will be supported by everyone.

“We are a family, and we will always stand shoulder to shoulder with each other, whether that’s on the pitch or helping to fight injustice off it.”

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