Swansea to boycott social media stand over abuse
Swansea City have announced a seven-day suspension of all social media activities as the Championship club take a "strong stance" against online abuse and discrimination.
The break in activity involves not just Swansea's official accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat, but also the first-team players and staff.
Academy players in the under-23 and under-18 squads have also agreed to the week-long boycott, which will start from 17:00 BST on Thursday.
Swansea revealed the move had been decided upon following conversations involving senior club staff, as well as the players and management.
"As a football club, we have seen several of our players subjected to abhorrent abuse in the past seven weeks alone, and we feel it is right to take a stand against behaviour that is a blight on our sport, and society at large," a statement from the club read.
"We will always be unwavering in our support of our players, staff, supporters and the community that we proudly represent, and we are united as a club on this issue.
"We also want to stand with players from other clubs who have had to endure vile discrimination on social media platforms.
"As a club we are also acutely aware of how social media can impact on the mental health of players and staff, and we hope our strong stance will highlight the wider effects of abuse."
Swansea also revealed chief executive Julian Winter had written to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to push for stronger punishment for those guilty of "appalling and cowardly abuse" on their respective platforms.
Swans player Yan Dhanda was abused online following the FA Cup tie against Manchester City on February 10, with the player writing on Twitter in response: "How can this STILL be happening in 2021? I'm so proud of who I am and representing Asians. More has to be done."
Club colleague Ben Cabango was also targeted while away on duty with Wales, along with international team-mate Rabbi Matondo.
The suspension of the club's accounts will cover the away game against Millwall on Saturday, as well as the trip to Sheffield Wednesday on April 13.
