Sport England boss Boardman asks Ofcom to act on Lionesses abuse
Sport England chair Chris Boardman has written to regulator Ofcom to raise concerns about online abuse of the Lionesses during the Women’s Euros.
It comes after England defender Jess Carter on Sunday revealed she would step back from social media following online racist abuse she received throughout the tournament.
Boardman has written to Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes asking for the body to use the powers at its disposal to crack down on online abuse.
“The abuse faced by these athletes not only causes personal harm but also sends a damaging message to the next generation of girls who aspire to follow in their footsteps,” Boardman said.
Ofcom is the regulator for online safety following the Online Safety Act becoming law in October 2023.
“The Online Safety Act 2023 provides a framework to address illegal and harmful content, including hate speech and misogynistic abuse,” wrote Boardman.
“We are particularly interested in how the new codes can be used to address the kind of targeted abuse we are seeing.
“We understand that Ofcom has also issued draft guidance on improving online safety for women and girls, and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss how these measures can be strengthened and enforced.”
Ofcom: Tech giants must act on illegal posts
Ofcom’s online safety director Jessica Zucker said: “The UK’s new online safety laws mean tech firms must now take action when they know someone’s broken the law on their platform.
“When all the rules are fully in force, the largest social media sites will also have to give users more power to filter out anything that isn’t illegal. And we’ve set out ways online services should go further to tackle misogyny and pile-ons that are targeted at women.
“We’ll be holding companies to account, but this needs to happen alongside effective education and law enforcement against the individuals who post illegal abuse.”
The Lionesses have also confirmed they would stop taking the knee before games, saying that “we and football need to find another way to tackle racism”.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy earlier indicated that the time for taking the knee as a gesture against racism “has probably passed”.