Bristol Sport Social Media Boycott

Friday, April 30th 2021

Bristol Flyers are joining forces with the Bristol Sport group in urging social media companies to use the power of their global systems to help bring online abuse to an end.

From 3pm today (Friday) until 11.59pm on Monday, May 3rd, all official social media channels will fall silent and we’re urging our supporters and partners to also support the boycott.

As a result of the boycott, Monday's BBL play-off quarter-final against Leicester Riders will now be broadcast for free on BBL Player.

You can still find news and information ahead of Monday's BBL Play-Off Quarter-Final on the official website or via the club app.

Bristol Sport Chairman Jon Lansdown said: “Social media has an important role in society and sport, especially in the past 12 months when it has been an invaluable connection with our supporters who have been unable to come and watch their teams in person.

“However, nothing is more important than human decency and respect. Therefore, as a sporting group we are showing our support for all who are subjected to online hatred, including those within our own teams who have suffered vile and vicious abuse.

“We encourage the UK Government to ensure its Online Safety Bill will bring in strong legislation to make social media companies more accountable for what happens on their platforms. We also want the companies who have huge global influence to use the power of their platforms to do all they can to prevent such abuse."

We therefore urge social media companies to:

filter and block messages and posts before being sent or posted if they contain racist or discriminatory material
operate robust, transparent, and swift measures to take down abusive material if it does get into circulation
mandate that all users should be subject to an improved verification process that (only if required by law enforcement) allows for accurate identification of the person behind the account. Steps should also be taken to stop a user that has sent abuse previously from reregistering an account
actively and expeditiously assist the investigating authorities in identifying the originators of illegal discriminatory material

If you have suffered online abuse, you can report it here.