The Premier League, the FA and the EFL have responded
to a July 2018 letter from the Petitions
Committee following the publication of the
Committee’s report on “online abuse and the
experience of disabled people”. The Committee has responded
with further questions about football’s response to online abuse.
The Committee’s report criticised football’s lack of
action over the abuse of disabled people. The
report revealed the extreme level of abuse that
disabled people receive online. The disabled people who took part
in the inquiry were enthusiastic users of social media, but many
were driven from online platforms while their “abusers went
unchecked.”
The inquiry found a high proportion of abusive content against
disabled people was related to football.
The report stated: “It is deeply disappointing that the
footballing organisations with whom we raised concerns about
abusive behaviour expressed no interest in addressing the
problem. Their lack of response is shameful.”
The Committee has now received a response
from William Bush, Executive Director, Premier
League which can be viewed here:
https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/petitions/Letter-FA-Premier-League-EFL.pdf
https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/petitions/Chair-Premier-league-online-abuse-5-feb.pdf
Mr Bush, said: “We thank the committee for the
recommendations laid out and we will look to review and respond
to the consultation where we feel the football authorities have a
specific role to play and we will continue to work to ensure
football is inclusive and welcoming to all.”
The Committee has responded to Mr Bush, asking him for more
detailed answers on some of the points raised in his letter.
Committee Chair, MP,
said: “We said in our report that the
lack of response from footballing organisations was shameful and
their delayed response has not changed our opinion. The letter
does nothing to change my view that footballing organisations do
not take the abuse of disabled people seriously. Our letter
and report made clear that physical accessibility is only a part
of making society more inclusive for disabled people, and yet
physical accessibility was the main focus
of their response. We will be writing to them with further
questions to seek the reassurances we need.”
The inquiry was triggered by a petition started by Katie Price,
which attracted 221,914 signatures before it closed early due to
the 2017 General Election. It talked about online abuse
directed at people from all backgrounds, but also highlighted
shocking abuse directed at her disabled son, Harvey.
A significant proportion of abusive content against and
about Harvey was related to football. The Committee became
increasingly concerned about the role that football fans seemed
to play in the online abuse of disabled people. It found people
using ableist slurs, terms connected to disability as “insults”
and perhaps most shockingly using the name of Harvey, who is a
child and football fan, as an “insult” for someone’s ability as a
footballer.
The petition called on the Government to “make online abuse a
specific criminal offence and create a register of offenders.”
In its report the Petitions Committee agreed with Katie Price’s
petition that the law on online abuse is not fit for purpose.
The report recommendations were made after listening to disabled
people during the inquiry and in consultation events, where it
was heard that online abuse can destroy people’s careers, social
lives and cause lasting damage to their health.
It also took oral evidence from disabled people, Google, Facebook
and Twitter, representatives from the police and disability
campaigners.
Notes to Editors:
The Committee’s report, Online abuse and the experience
of disabled people, is published on the Committee’s
website via the following links: Easy
read Large
print Original Audio
