Ban online racist abusers from football matches – Labour
Anyone convicted of racist abuse online should be banned from attending football matches, Labour has suggested.
It wants the courts to be given new powers to crack down on perpetrators, like those who targeted members of the England squad after the Euros final.
Currently, only those who shout racist abuse from the terraces can be forbidden from attending games.
There has been condemnation of the abuse suffered by footballers Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho.
The trio were vilified online and a mural of Marcus Rashford was defaced following England’s defeat to Italy on Sunday.
It sparked a debate about whether the government and social media companies are doing enough to combat racism in the sport.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the government was “introducing tough new laws” to force social media companies to clamp down on racism.
A spokesman said the Online Safety Bill, which is yet to be published, would prevent “repeat offenders” from opening new accounts and would include powers to make senior managers criminally liable.
A draft version, which came out earlier this year, suggests large fines would be imposed on technology companies if they failed to protect UK users from abuse.
“We will not hesitate to bring these powers into force if tech firms do not step up their efforts,” the DCMS spokeswoman said.
Labour’s shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens said urgent action was needed, but the government’s bill would not stop racist abuse online.
She said: “The racists who have been abusing England players online should be banned from football grounds.
“They do not deserve to be anywhere near a game of football.”
She said Labour would ensure online abuse was treated in the same way as racism directed at players from the terraces.