Zimpapers Logo

LONDON – Racism in football is a bigger problem than abusive messages seen on social media, says Facebook Content Policy Manager, Zimbabwean Fadzai Madzingira, after Instagram announced new measures to tackle online hate on its platform.

High-profile players in both the men’s and women’s game have been victims of racist abuse on social media in recent weeks, while English Premier League referee Mike Dean was subjected to death threats following a controversial decision over the weekend.

Facebook-owned Instagram announced new measures, including the removal of accounts to prevent abusive messages on its platform and developing new controls to help reduce the abuse people see.

“The changes we have announced today are part of a larger strategy of our commitment to more accountability and commitment to stopping this hate. They go with previous features which we have rolled out. It’s all a small part in stopping this abuse,” Madzingira told Sky Sports News.

“But racism in football is bigger than what happens on social media platforms. There are conversations that need to happen offline as well if we are all going to take responsibility for stopping this hate.”

The British government has said it will change the law to make social media companies more accountable for malicious content, which could include substantial fines.

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “For too long the world’s most popular and powerful social media companies have failed to tackle the stream of horrific racist attacks on their platforms.

“I welcome Instagram’s improved policies but racist abuse is still a fact of life for too many people and more has to be done across the board to stamp it out.

“We’re introducing a new age of accountability for these companies through our upcoming Online Safety Bill and this could see huge fines for firms which fail to clearly and transparently protect their users.”

Madzingira says Facebook and Instagram encourage governments to open up dialogue with them and believes both need to work together to make progress on tackling the issue.

“We welcome conversations with governments and other stakeholders both on and offline. We have teams inside the company that are well engaged within these discussions, whether that is the Online Harms Bill right through to initiatives on the ground and how we can encourage people to report this behaviour. We encourage conversations with governments.”

Madzingira also says social media companies would be “narcissistic” if they thought they could single-handedly resolve online racist abuse.