Isn’t it time social media was brought under control - dreadful abuse after England football defeat.

AmberSpyglass

But if it’s happening online, then it isn’t necessarily happening in the UK….

Quite true

It's not called the World Wide Web for nothing!

True it is the www. It’s also not just a UK problem. The owners of the social platforms are known however and I suppose that is why they have been asked to control it. A victim can also take action themselves and report abuse or harassment to the police. In the case of children they often keep quiet and suffer in silence.

Perhaps the new bill will help address the problem or at least minimise it.

Callistemon

Alegrias1

I'm with WWM2 Serious question.

How do you all propose Social Media do this?

They delete offensive posts, they suspend accounts, they report the worst offenders to the authorities.

What else should they do?

Please bear your answer in mind next time a GNer gets banned from this platform and everyone wants them back.

Might I point out that in the case of posters being banned from GN and other posters requesting that they be allowed back:
No posters have ever, as far as I know, requested the return of any poster who posted racist or any other such offensive comments, nor would they.

To infer that is vile.

Do you have experience of anybody being banned from GransNet for racist comments?
If not I’d be more circumspect about where you fling your accusations, as it implies - not so disingenuously- that those who have been suspended in the past might have been guilty of such racist, offensive comments.
Speaking for Jingl and more recently the Doghouse Grans no way was this the case, so I would respectfully suggest you do not persist with this connection as it could be interpreted as slander.

Online death threats and abuse are something that adults can and should choose to switch off and ignore. There are so many ignorant and nasty people spreading their poison, it's not something you should allow yourself to get upset about, and I know celebrities have learned to ignore the many insults they receive.

What concerns me much more are the children and young teenagers who are groomed and abused, told to send naked pictures and give out personal information, all sorts of dreadful things. They are too young to handle it or know better. That is far more concerning than some idiot posting stupid ignorant comments.

I do know of an example of a person who was temporarily banned for racist comments. Its nobody who is posting here now. I haven't seen them posting for many months.

The person who was banned, many people were asking where they were and why they were not posting.

I will say no more.

There is a petition on Change.org to ban anyone found guilty of racial abuse from football matches for life. Maybe that would hit the vile trolls where it hurts.

I know celebrities have learned to ignore the many insults they receive. People like Caroline Flack? People should not have to put up with vile abuse, racist or otherwise, whatever their age. I have read lots of supportive posts on FB today, people trying to crowd out the nasty stuff. Also, a right wing comedian's career has crashed and burnt after he posted a vile comment, one akin to that posted by the Tory MP.

Chestnut

Online death threats and abuse are something that adults can and should choose to switch off and ignore. There are so many ignorant and nasty people spreading their poison, it's not something you should allow yourself to get upset about, and I know celebrities have learned to ignore the many insults they receive.

What concerns me much more are the children and young teenagers who are groomed and abused, told to send naked pictures and give out personal information, all sorts of dreadful things. They are too young to handle it or know better. That is far more concerning than some idiot posting stupid ignorant comments.

Have you actually seen any of the "stupid ignorant" comments posted about the black English footballers? They are more than stupid and ignorant. They are some of the vilest I've seen on social media. One of the posters works (worked?) for Savills, the estate agents and I sincerely hope he is sacked and is prosecuted because his posts must come under the heading of hate speech.

The employee (a manager) has been suspended.
He is claiming his account was hacked.

I use a nom de plume on GN but GN knows who I am and can contact me. If FB, Twitter etc. did the same there would be far less abuse, racism and trolling.

MissAdventure

The employee (a manager) has been suspended.
He is claiming his account was hacked.

He would say that wouldn’t he.

Of course.
We already know what he is; may as well add liar, too.

MissAdventure

Of course.
We already know what he is; may as well add liar, too.

Ah, the Grant Shapps/Michael Green defence.

AmberSpyglass

People have a right to be anonymous on social media. What they don’t have is a right to express racist views and platforms have to crack down on this. And let’s not pretend it’s a social media problem - it’s a society problem.

And a worldwide problem.

If you wish to publish a letter in a Newspaper you have to leave your name and address, either at the bottom of the letter, or if you want to remain anonymous to the public, with the editorial staff. It should be exactly the same with social media organisations. I am a huge believer in free speech but not free abuse. This would certainly reduce these cowards’ pathetic actions.

growstuff

Chestnut

Online death threats and abuse are something that adults can and should choose to switch off and ignore. There are so many ignorant and nasty people spreading their poison, it's not something you should allow yourself to get upset about, and I know celebrities have learned to ignore the many insults they receive.

What concerns me much more are the children and young teenagers who are groomed and abused, told to send naked pictures and give out personal information, all sorts of dreadful things. They are too young to handle it or know better. That is far more concerning than some idiot posting stupid ignorant comments.

Have you actually seen any of the "stupid ignorant" comments posted about the black English footballers? They are more than stupid and ignorant. They are some of the vilest I've seen on social media. One of the posters works (worked?) for Savills, the estate agents and I sincerely hope he is sacked and is prosecuted because his posts must come under the heading of hate speech.

Obviously it is vile and hateful, but it's still the abuse of children and young teenagers that upsets me most. Adults can ignore this stuff because the perpetrators are ignorant fools and they should know better than to let anyone like that affect them at all. Children are so much more vulnerable.

And yet even on here, people get into a terrible tizzy when there is a disagreement, let alone the things that have been said about the footballers.

Football can and does ban abusers for life if they can identify them. The abuse of children and young people is the most concerning as it can ruin young vulnerable lives with the victims not speaking out because they are too scared, blame themselves, are embarrassed etc.

It takes on average 7 years before a child victim tells someone about abuse.

Nothing will change until those at the top are changed.

What about the new bill underway at the moment? Some issues are cross party.

25Avalon

What about the new bill underway at the moment? Some issues are cross party.

We are talking about two different things.

In that case WWM2 I don’t understand your remark that nothing will change until those at the top are changed.

Oh what I mean is that both Johnson and Patel and their behaviour are not the sort of role models one would expect from those at the top. Nothing they have ever said has strongly condemned the racial abuse nor accepted the right for the young English lions to denounce racism in their own way by taking the knee.

Until we have a leader whose moral compass is recognised as decent and upright by our citizens we will continue to have such worms who spout hate and abuse.

In practical terms, I think the only way to force social media platforms to be more pro-active in stopping abuse is for people, the media and organisations to stop using them. A user strike would grab the attention of these companies pretty quickly. It would affect their reputation, their advertising, their revenue and their share prices. I don't see how laws in one or a few countries would have the same impact. It's a global business and difficult to control.

Sadly, I suspect racism is endemic, not just in the UK but worldwide. Time and education can be helpful but there are those who cling to their stereotypes and enjoy abusing people. It is illegal. Identify and prosecute is the normal course so social media should not be an exception.

Football supporters are like most large groups of people; the good, the bad and the ugly. Sadly, when aroused, the extremes are more audible and visible.