“Pride of London”: Fans react as Chelsea boycott social media to take a stand against racism

Chelsea join hands with English clubs to boycott social media in a stand against racism

In a statement released on the official club website, Chelsea announced that they will boycott all of their major social media handles for a complete gameweek in order to take a stand against racism in football.

Instances of players receiving abuse on social media recently have gone up. And it is widely felt that major social media companies do not do enough in order to take action against offensive posts and comments.

So, the Blues have joined other English clubs in the Premier League, EFL, FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship to boycott their social media accounts from 3 PM on Friday, 30th April, to 11:59 PM on Monday, 3rd May.

The statement mentions the intent behind taking this step and goes on to highlight the expectations held by the clubs of what can be achieved by this boycott.

“We therefore join the English football family in using this boycott to highlight the need for greater action from the platforms, including filtering, blocking and swift takedowns of offensive posts, an improved verification process and re-registration prevention, plus active assistance for law enforcement agencies to identify and prosecute originators of illegal content.”

Fighting for a better tomorrow

The boycott will also be with the support of PFA, LMA, PGMOL, Kick It Out and the FSA. Racism and discrimination really have no place in society and in football.

Hopefully, this makes the social media tycoons spring into action because the spotlight has now been put on them. While it can’t be eradicated completely and instantly, such steps are vital in order to get to the ultimate goal.

The fans reacted positively to the news, of course, and Thomas Tuchel also shared his views on the matter:

“It’s very important because anything we can do, any sign, any action, we should do. It’s a big problem because on social media you can write anything and nobody knows who you are. So it is a big platform for abuse and we should take any measures we can.”

Here are some of the best reactions from fans on the club’s social media account:

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The full Chelsea statement can be found here.