The Football Association has told Sky News it would consider boycotting social media over racism.
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham also said platforms have “avoided responsibility” and have made no contact since England star Jess Carter revealed the scale of abuse she’s faced throughout the Women’s Euros in Switzerland.
Mr Bullingham spoke of his anger when asked about the inaction by Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Instagram in the face of Carter’s concerns.
In the five days since the FA reported the abuse faced by Carter to British police, Sky News has had no response from either company.
“We haven’t [either],” Mr Bullingham said in an interview ahead of the Lionesses playing Spain in the Euros final on Sunday.
“Our general perspective is that those companies have really avoided the responsibility for this over the last few years, they should be taking.
“Our hope is that with the new online safety legislation, Ofcom can now bring personal and corporate accountability, so that we see real change. We haven’t seen that in the last few years. We would like to see it now.”
Neither has Kick It Out – English football’s anti-discrimination body – whose chairman Sanjay Bhandari told Sky News on Sunday that “it’s got worse” on X and Instagram.
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‘It’s got worse’: England star targeted by racist abuse
And Mr Bullingham said: “We’ve generally seen them go backwards in the last couple of years, rather than forwards.
“I think the thing that we campaigned for so hard was the legislation that would then allow the government, or really Ofcom, to bring accountability through. And that’s what we need to see now.”
That would mean online safety regulator Ofcom using its powers to fine social media companies that are not quickly removing racism.
“Absolutely they should be fining the companies and individuals,” Mr Bullingham said.
Jess Carter has spoken about facing racist abuse online during the Euros tournament. Pic: PA
When asked about whether the FA would boycott social media, Mr Bullingham said: “We’d absolutely consider anything that we thought would help.
“I think what is more likely at the moment to drive change is personal fines, corporate fines that will really start to make these companies take action in the right place.”
The issue has become an increasing priority for the FA since Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were targeted with racist abuse online after missing penalties in England’s defeat to Italy in the men’s Euros final in 2021.
All England players are now briefed by police on action to deal with racism online – particularly around tournaments.
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“You’re angry that in this day and age, that’s all happening,” Mr Bullingham said. “Our view is the social media companies need to do more. They need to prevent this happening.
“They need to find ways to take it down quicker, and then they need to work with us and the authorities to make sure that we’re prosecuting people for what are effectively hate crimes.”
The England players are now trying to focus on defending their European Championship title in the final against Spain.
FA chief hails Lionesses’ ‘unprecedented success’
It is a golden era for the Lionesses, having reached a third consecutive tournament final. Sunday’s game is a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final – which saw Spain beat England.
“It’s an incredibly special moment for English football,” Mr Bullingham said. “We see the excitement amongst fans and it pulls the country together in a way very few other things can. So incredibly exciting.
“We don’t take it for granted to make these finals and we want to enjoy every moment.
“I have to have that conversation with my kids regularly that this is not normal.
“It’s become more normal. But I grew up in an era where we were happy to qualify for tournaments.
“So it’s really unprecedented success.”
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The hope is to keep it going under Sarina Wiegman, who is under contract until the 2027 World Cup. The Dutch manager has taken the Lionesses to three finals after also making it to two with her homeland team.
“Serena is an incredibly special coach, and I think we’ve got an incredibly special group of players,” Mr Bullingham said.
What frustrates the football chief is discussing whether Wiegman would be under consideration for the English men’s team job.
“It’s a little bit disrespectful for Lionesses to assume that the England men’s job is more senior than the women’s,” he said.
“That’s not the way we view our organisation. We view them as equal.
“Of course, she’s talented enough to do any job in world football. But we’re very, very happy with the fact she’s with us and she’s with us through to at least 2027.”
What is missing at Wembley is a statue to honour the Women’s Euro 2022 win.
“We’ve got one in the pipeline,” Mr Bullingham said.