This weekend Stevenage Football Club will unite with all clubs and take a stance against online abuse and discrimination…
Along with The FA, Premier League, EFL, FA Women’s Super League, FA Women’s Championship, PFA LMA, PGMOL, Kick It Out and the FSA, the Club will be boycotting social media from 3pm Friday April 30th until 11:59pm Monday May 3rd.
In response to the continued discrimination and abuse received online by players and those connected with football, Stevenage Football Club will not publish any content across its official Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages. This includes our Academy, Youth, Women, and Foundation channels.
Stevenage Football Club prides itself on promoting an equal opportunities environment irrespective of people’s faith, gender, race, nationality, sexual orientation or disability. In sport, we must create a social media environment where hateful and discriminatory actions are as unacceptable online as they are in day-to-day life.
We believe that social media is an integral means of connecting with our fans and community. We use our channels to inform, entertain and make supporters feel welcome and included as part of the Club.
However, we believe that that social media companies are not doing enough to tackle abuse and discrimination across its platforms. We cannot sit back as players, their families, staff and fans continue to receive irrational hate.
Stevenage Football Club therefore will join English Football in boycotting social media for this period, highlighting the need for action – including filtering, blocking, swift removals of posts, improved verification process and re-registration prevention - from those companies.
The Club actively encourages all stakeholders and supporters to join them in this stance.
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Please note, www.stevenagefc.com will continue to operate over the weekend, and make sure you have opted-in to receive email notifications during this period.