The head of football’s international anti-discrimination body, Fare, has questioned England’s decision to stop taking the knee before Euro 2025 matches after defender Jess Carter suffered racist abuse on social media.
On Sunday, the Lionesses said they would stop the anti-racism gesture as it was “clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism”.
The Football Association (FA) is said to be fully supportive of the Lionesses’ decision, and shares the squad’s view that something else is now needed.
Fare’s executive director Piara Powar said it was time for regulator Ofcom to take action against social media platforms, but also expressed disappointment at England’s stance.
“The players have taken a decision to stop taking the knee, which is their right,” Powar told BBC Sport.
“I personally don’t see the link between the two. The taking of the knee is a powerful anti-racist act and this England team have shown leadership across Europe in taking it for so long.
“Powerful actions are needed right now, to deal with the issues that are being played out as we speak.”
In October 2023, the Online Safety Act became law dictating that social media platforms have a duty to protect users from content such as racism, death threats and calls for violence.
Powar says it is now time for Ofcom to take action.
“The racial abuse of Jess Carter highlights again how toxic some social media users are,” he said. “It also raises the question of the responsibility of the platforms to identify and remove harmful abuse such as racism.
“In this regard it is a very timely test for the Online Safety Act which seeks to protect users and regulate social media platforms.
“The act came into force in the autumn and Ofcom gained powers to enforce in March. There doesn’t seem to be any public information available on action taken against the platforms thus far.”
A spokesman for the United Kingdom Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) said it had received a complaint in relation to the racist abuse.
“We treat all reports of hate crime extremely seriously and we’re working closely with Jess Carter’s family and the social media providers, including Meta and X, to identify those responsible for the messages,” it added.
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