UK Government Threatens Social Media Companies with “Large Fines” over Abuse
The UK government has threatened social media companies with “large fines” which could amount to “billions of pounds” if they fail to tackle abuse on their platforms.
It follows a spate of incidents of racism directed at footballers playing in the English leagues.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden also said “criminal sanctions” could be considered for senior management.
“We are willing to take the harder, legislative measures,” he said.
Dowden was speaking after Southampton’s Alex Jankewitz had become the latest footballer to receive racist abuse on social media, with his club contacting Hampshire Police over messages sent to the teenage midfielder.
“It’s just pretty outrageous in this day and age” said Dowden, who hosted a meeting with past and present players about the issue last month.
“There are still problems in stadiums but, to a large extent it’s not the problem that it was. But it’s still rampant on social media.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Dowden also gave his views on the ongoing studies into sport and dementia, and fans returning to sports venues after the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘We’ll take the power to impose very large fines’
In recent days, several incidents of abuse directed at football players have once again highlighted the problem of racism on social media.
Former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright said the authorities and social media companies need to do more to identify the perpetrators.
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Dowden said: “I certainly am prepared to get tough.
“If you fail to enforce your own terms and conditions, stand up to your duty of care, then we will impose fines and we’ll take the power to impose very large fines – indeed up to 10% of global turnover.
“For some of these big tech firms, that’s running to billions of pounds.”
He added: “As an ultimate pullback, I really don’t want to have to do this, but we do reserve the right to criminal sanctions for senior management as well, in the most egregious cases.”
