Balotelli Twitter hate campaign is 'depressing but no surprise'
Liverpool striker has been sent 4,000 racist messages on social media so far this season
Research from anti-discrimination group Kick It Out has revealed that Mario Balotelli has received more than 4,000 racist messages via social media this season, with England strikers Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge also receiving more than 1,000 abusive massages in the past eight months.
It is, says David Conn in The Guardian, "profoundly depressing" that between August and March this season there have been 134,000 discriminatory football-related posts that are "racist, homophobic, sexist and... possibly amounting to hate crime". The initial reaction may be one of "basic despair" he says, but we should "probably not be shocked".
The internet offers anonymity, he says, and "social media, with all its blessings, entertainments and miraculous global connectedness, further boosts the profile and status of footballers and celebrities but is a vehicle too for the amplification of hate and nastiness".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It is an ongoing issue in the game, notes the Daily Mail, and efforts to deal with it have so far failed. "Social media, in particular Twitter, has been a constant problem for football clubs since it grew in popularity, with Premier League stars and clubs having millions of followers. Manchester United tried to ban Twitter among their players in 2010 to little success."
Kick It Out's research was carried out by social media management agency Tempero and analytics firm Brandwatch, and looked at the specific cases of Balotelli, Welbeck and Sturridge.
The results have promoted Kick It Out to set up an expert panel, but what can they do to combat the problem?
"They will have to consider, along with all the technological arcs of modern life, whether there is something specific to football, its tribal allegiance, conduct and high stakes, which is also at the root of some of this hatred," says Conn.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'A stark choice'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Vietnamese migrants crossing the Channel
The Explainer 2024 has seen a surge in the numbers of Vietnamese migrants making the illegal passage into the UK
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
How to make the most of your leftover pumpkins
The Week Recommends As the Halloween fun wraps up, snap up pumpkins still on sale and don't leave your jack-o-lanterns to rot
By Tess Foley-Cox Published
-
Mason Greenwood: footballer arrested on suspicion of rape and assault
Speed Read Man Utd confirm the striker will not train or play until further notice
By The Week Staff Published
-
Handball: swapping bikini bottoms for tight pants
Speed Read Women competitors will be required to ‘wear short tight pants with a close fit’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Cristiano Ronaldo’s second coming
Speed Read Last week, Manchester United re-signed the forward on a two-year deal thought to be worth more than £400,000 a week
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Bank holidays and boycotts: are MPs trying to jinx England?
Speed Read Declaring a bank holiday would be ‘tempting fate’, says Boris Johnson
By The Week Staff Published
-
Weightlifting: Olympic Games set for transgender first
Speed Read New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard will make history at Tokyo 2020
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sport shorts: Champions League expansion plan to be agreed
Speed Read News and reactions from the world of sport, featuring Joachim Low and the Lions women’s team
By Mike Starling Published
-
Sport shorts: Sturgeon slams Rangers fans over title celebrations
Speed Read News and reactions from the world of sport, featuring Keely Hodgkinson and Bryson DeChambeau
By Mike Starling Published
-
Sport shorts: Klopp’s unwanted record as Liverpool lose again at Anfield
Speed Read News and reactions from the world of sport, featuring Tiger Woods and Tom Brady
By Mike Starling Published