Kent Cricket to boycott social media
Wednesday 28th April 2021
Kent Cricket can confirm that the Club will be joining the Premier League, English Football League, Women’s Super League, the England & Wales Cricket Board, Professional Cricketers’ Association and fellow first-class counties in boycotting social media this coming weekend; in response to ongoing online abuse suffered by sportspeople and those connected to sport as a whole.
The Club will cease posting on all its Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn accounts from 15:00 BST on Friday until 23:59 BST on Monday in solidarity with athletes and those connected to sport that have suffered from disgusting online abuse.
Discrimination and/or abusive behaviour has no place in modern life, and Kent Cricket remains committed to eliminating all forms of discrimination from our sport and in wider society.
After discussions with the Club’s professional playing staff, all of the Club’s professional players have agreed to join the Club’s social media boycott in the spirit of solidarity.
Together, we join those also taking part in this boycott in calling on social media companies to become more pro-active in eliminating online abuse from their platforms, as well as calling on UK Government to ensure that its Online Safety Bill includes legislation to make social media companies more accountable for the content posted on their platforms.
Kent Cricket’s CEO, Simon Storey, said: “Everyone at the Club fully supports the social media blackout happening this weekend.
“We have seen targeted abuse sent to sportspeople and this has no place in society. As a professional cricket club and overseers of recreational cricket in Kent, we take pride in being a vehicle for passion and identity for the people of Kent and our supporters.
“Whilst we welcome enthusiasm and passion for our Club and for cricket along with personal opinions, abhorrent online abuse is completely against what we stand for as a Club. We join our counterparts across sport to call upon social media companies to take more action against abusive content.”