England Sports League Proves Online Trolls Can Be Stopped. So Why Aren’t They?
Anti-discrimination organizations like Kick It Out and Show Racism the Red Card are involved in the boycott, as are sport’s governing bodies.
Kick It Out said in September that there was a 42 percent increase in reports of discrimination in professional soccer last season, with the number of incidents rising from 313 to 446.
Former World Cup winner and Arsenal’s record goal-scorer Thierry Henry, who removed himself from social media last month, hailed the boycott as a “start” in the battle against racism and discrimination.
However, the real gem here is that if social media companies can’t bring themselves to actually, you know MAKE THEIR PRODUCTS PLEASANT EXPERIENCES FOR USERS, then outside groups will just have to do this job for them.
First the investigators would find out the culprits’ names, telephone numbers, and where they lived. Then the authorities would be alerted. Shortly afterwards, accounts would be closed down. And, in the worst cases, the police would prosecute. Finally, as people began to realise that actions online had actual consequences, many would start modifying their behaviour. The tsunami of online hate might eventually become a sea swell.
A flight of fancy? Perhaps. But it is not as ridiculous as it sounds. Last May investigators at Sportradar, who spend most of their time identifying match-fixing, conducted a pilot scheme at two exhibition tennis tournaments where they tracked down trolls.
This right here is what U.S. security agencies should be doing to the violent RWNJs in America:
“It makes little difference whether you are looking for match-fixing or someone who is abusing players on social media,” he says. “At the end of the day it’s an investigation. And my guys come from the world of police, law enforcement and financial fraud, and, in particular, military defence and counter-terrorism. So they know how to find people.”