In solidarity with the football family, British Cycling can today announce that it will be joining this weekend’s social media boycott in in response to the ongoing and sustained discriminatory abuse which sportspeople and others continue to receive online.
The boycott will run from 15:00 on Friday 30 April through to 23:59 on Monday 3 May and cover British Cycling’s Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter channels. While the blight of online abuse impacts different sports in different ways, we stand in solidarity with all of those who have suffered or continue to suffer abuse, and hope that this weekend’s action will force social media companies to bolster and accelerate their efforts to tackle the issue.
A number of other national governing bodies and sporting organisations have also committed to the boycott, including the LTA, ECB and Premiership Rugby.
British Cycling CEO, Brian Facer, said: “Social media has a massive power to do good, but all too often we see its power to do harm as well. Sport is about passion, and while we respect everyone’s right to an opinion it needs to be expressed in an appropriate and respectful way.
“Sport should be inclusive, diverse and welcoming, and athletes must be able to engage with the public without being on the receiving end of sustained, pervasive and abhorrent abuse. Equally importantly, the social media companies have a responsibility to be good corporate citizens, and along with other national governing bodies, clubs and individuals, we call on these companies to play their part too.
“By uniting in solidarity this weekend, sport will be highlighting what is a very important issue which impacts a range of areas. Hopefully it will make the individuals who post abuse think twice, and force the social media companies – who need the kind of engagement and traffic provided by sport to help generate revenues – to be more proactive, too.”
