Hurty words and the reaction to them is something that has quite frankly dogged this new ‘online’ millennium of ours. However, there is a line to be drawn, and that’s when people are singled out for being not what they say, but for the very core of their existence which they have no control over, in order to cause the sort of distress that does not deserve to be and cannot be managed.
Context is king, which this why so many vintage TV shows are now labelled as politically incorrect or ‘inappropriate’ these days – when in actual fact – most if not all were written to mock the bigots they portrayed.
For example, Love They Neighbour is still frowned upon by many, yet the white racist protagonist Eddie Booth in the show was consistently portrayed as the perennial loser, a fool who was always revealed as a fool in every single episode. The moral of the story was ‘don’t be like Eddie, he’s a desperate individual that nobody in their right mind would wish to be confused with. His black neighbours were fair nicer, and more successful human beings.
Alf Garnet became another intensely divisive TV character, yet the Anti-Semitic bigot was in real life a Jew – playing the part of a man he’d not wish to share a lift with in real life. Again, the idea was to utterly ridicule another morally grotesque Mr. Magoo.
Nasty people using social media are not actors on a stage. They are angry stupid people who are incapable/wholly disinterested in producing a cogent critique. So if they don’t like you, then they tell you are a [insert something horrible] that matches what their tiny, incapable brains have decided will hurt.
Recently there’s been a fresh trend of black players receiving racist abuse on social media platforms, and clubs are discussing temporary boycotts as a response.
Given that during the last US elections it was virtually impossible to post an opinion that opposed the legitimacy of the Biden win on Twitter without being shadow blocked, banned, or receiving patronizing on-screen messages such as ‘do you want to read the full article before retweeting?’ And that on Facebook, the ‘Community Standards’ algorithms automatically dish out bans for certain words, irrespective of context, so the platforms can be programmed to act – when they feel inclined.
Clubs and players must stay, and the platforms must up their game for the simple reason that the victims of the abuse ought not to have to retire from the field of play in order to find respite from a nasty minority. The platforms are making so much money, so they have the resources. Whilst boycotts would highlight the problem, they would in no way solve it. We’re beyond raising awareness.
Yep, there will always be these idiots.. Kick racism out and BLM don’t achieve anything… These scum need to be punished properly.. Hit them with police charges, huge fines and a criminal record for the cowards on social media.. The racists in stadiums ban from all football venues for life, including amatures and kids games….. Punish them properly.
Racism/ignorance is never going away. I’ve dropped many racists. Many. Especially in HMP🌚👍
Too true. Show me a good kid and I’ll show you a good parent. If you want to know why little ‘Jonny’ or ‘Joanie’ is a sod, spend 5 minutes with Mum or Dad or his/her friendship group. Unfortunately, society’s ills cannot all be fixed by education alone. Family, peers, housing and socio-economic standing have a greater impact on a child’s life than education. Any suggestion of giving parenting classes to people who have no idea how to parent though is a slight on their liberty and the ‘nanny state’ will be thrown at anyone suggesting it. If education was the way out of this mess, please explain why the UK still has children aged 11 struggling to read or write. Yes, education is vital, but social media abuse goes beyond the classroom.
When Trump and Johnson have recently used fascist rhetoric to alienate certain sections of society to further their own political beliefs what hope is there? The users of social media can make a stand, but this diverts away from the platforms. Will governments strong arm these platforms in to change? I would hope so, but wont hold my breath. Society instills a moral code, we can do certain things without reproach. When we step over that line we get punished (parking fines, speeding fines, arrest). Who is policing these platforms and where are the rules? There would be considerably less abuse if people had to give a valid name, NI number. What harm would that seriously do?
It can theoretically work if they are committed enough and if enough football clubs and celebrities do it. However, since social media came out it has been an absolute cesspit, and that hasn’t stopped the celebrities, sports clubs, politicians, and so on using it. They have all turned a blind eye to the problems because of the increase in exposure they can get. But if they took a stand then it would hurt the social media companies and force them to make changes. However, very very very unlikely to happen with enough people and for long enough and with an organised enough force behind it to negotiate at the moment.
I agree. The whole concept of being able to post what you what anonymously is completely flawed. Post what you believe, and have the balls to be personally judged on it. How many of these posts that are racist are actually genuine is another issue caused by the current system. Any system where you can post anonymously is going to be abused by those with an agenda, whether they are far right groups, far left groups, and by those that want to seem an issue being more widespread than it is.
Boycots and algorithmic policing are very different things. Opposing the legitamcy of the Biden win you are getting lumped in with the nutters by the algorithms used by the social media companies themselves who are being forced to police themselves but don’t want to spend money getting actual people to do it. If you hold similar views in some areas to people who are flagged as racist you get treated as though you might be one of them. That is how a lot of the ai software works. There is no higher level reasoning involved unfortunately and you need to be careful as it’s not just used for Nudging. Nudging is where you have not so subtle as well as subtle attempts to change your behaviour both online and offline.
Very much so, it’s an insult to the players who had a whole section of the crowd hurling racial abuse in the 70’s and early 80’s, they walked straight through it and shoved it down their throats with performances on the pitch. As usual, there’s more to all this. Now we have racism in accusational form only…that nobody sees or hears but the accuser and is never prosecuted or prooved. So when that’s not perfect then the anonymity of social media is perfect for agent provocateur and agenda. Social media is cancer, I said when the internet started , all this bringing people together cr@p was just a smokescreen. They changed the way people communicate so to then easier control it. Even if these are football fans, which I very much doubt, giving them the power, by reacting , as H said, is the worst course of action. The problem is if football clubs start boycotting social media , everyone’s embroiled in it now, and with no fans in grounds the connection to the clubs without even the online element is nil. So further marginalisation for communities and real fans and censorship of platforms…..that’s what is behind all this. If someone is abusive in that manner over a computer screen, they are less than nothing. Not worth breath or spit. That should be the end of it.
Exactly. Education and parenting is the key to everything. As the saying goes nobody is born a racist.
It’s certainly a salient point as good parenting is at the core of all this but how one breaks that vicious cycle is the key.
So it broadly boils down to the education v punishment debate.
And its not just online abuse, racial or otherwise we are dealing with.
While working in Dublin many moons ago I was going out with an Irish girl and we got talking about the conflict in Northern Ireland. I must have had a few Guiness’s but I suggested wouldn’t it be a great idea if, for just one day of the year, a Protestant family crossed the street and knocked on their Catholic neighbour’s door and said (preferably after they opened it), “you know, you’re really great people, we like you”.
She said, “that is so beautifully niave, you’re such a dreamer”.
I replied, “yes, but I’m not the only one”
There’s a good interview I’ve mentioned before, with Denzel Washington, and he makes the point about not blaming the system, it starts in the home.
Chasing people around on social media or kneeling or throwing paint …it all achieves nothing. Nobody needs ‘awareness’, about anything. Everybody needs better parents. That’s how you break bad cycles.
Seems to me most of this abuse, racial or otherwise appears on the web.
Providing it doesnt breach the Data Protection Act, I think the answer is quite straightforward.
All posters should supply name, address and telephone details that need to be verified, then and only then can they post.
If social media companies refuse, or accept fake information even if unintentionally, then they should be fined heavily and for serial offenders, knock out their internet services even if it that means clobbering the likes of Twitter, etc. Their revenue is way to precious to risk for a few goons.
If the law prevents this in some way, then the law needs to be changed.
Yeah fully agree with this.
I think the potentially misguided view of the clubs/PL is that staging a blackout will reduce traffic through these platforms forcing the social media companies to take note….a threat if you will. “if you don’t act, we may be forced to permanently leave this platform and here is a taste of how that might look”.
But I fully agree that proverbially picking up your ball and taking it home will just cause these racist idiots to find another kid with a ball.
Platforms can do as they wish as they feel sports stars and clubs will go back them as they generate these money as well. So a threat we will leave but only for a little bit doesn’t incentivise the social media company’s to do to much.
it would be great to get t cretins off social media but there always ways people can get back on, I sure people you stopped letting post on here have come back or at least view your site Harry.
Well said