Swansea to boycott social media for a week in protest at online abuse

Three Swansea players — Yan Dhanda, Ben Cabango and Jamal Lowe — have all been racially abused on social media recently.

The decision by the Welsh club  follows a rise in the number of footballers being subjected to racist abuse on social media, with the Liverpool trio Trent Alexander-Arnold, Naby Keita and Sadio Mane the latest to be targeted following Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first-leg loss to Real Madrid.

Swansea, who have written to Facebook and Twitter calling for greater control and tougher punishments for those found guilty of posting “cowardly” online abuse.

“From 5pm (1600 GMT) today all first-team players, those in the academy professional phase (Under-23s and Under-18s), Swansea City Ladies, Community Trust, senior club staff and official club channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok) will not post any content for a period of seven days,” the club said in a statement on Thursday.

Swansea added they also wanted “to stand with players from other clubs who have had to endure vile discrimination on social media platforms”.

Their boycott will cover the Championship games against Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday, although club news will still be posted on Swansea’s website.

“As a close and diverse group of players, this is something we all feel extremely passionate about,” said Swansea 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.”