Thread by @benwhitelaw

Online abuse and content moderation is a niche topic and smart, nuanced reporting on it is difficult if you don’t know the space.

Here are some questions I’d be asking if If I was reporting on the abuse of #ENG players after last night’s game.

🧵

1. What training/support does England/the FA provide for players before/during the tournament to prepare for this scenario? Who can players contact in the England camp if they are abused (on or offline)?

2. What social media guidelines do players receive to mitigate such abuse? How often are they updated? And which orgs (eg @GlitchUK_) are feeding into them with best practice to ensure they are robust?

3. What provisions did the platforms (especially UK teams) put in place as England progressed through the tournament? Extra resources? New filters? Search limiting? If none, why? We saw this coming.

4. What progress has there been made since clubs boycotted social media in April? Exactly how are platforms working with clubs? And who is mediating in these conversations? (Seems a small point but it matters) thefa.com/news/2021/apr/…

5. What attempts have been made to avoid abuse of sports players in the past? What initiatives hold the most hope? I'm hopeful for e-courts and Twitter’s ‘revise your tweet’ pilot

https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/1257717113705414658

6. What is @UEFA doing to help ensure players are safe during its tournament? Where is their condemnation of last night's abuse? (If you ask me, its #EqualGame campaign is poor and actively hampering real change)

7. Finally, what could @England / The FA do differently for the next major tournament? Teams have physios and psychologists so why not an online abuse prevention team? Now is the time for big ideas.

PS A few journalists have asked me to comment/appear on radio since I sent this thread but there are many better-qualified folks.

Speak (and listen carefully) to:
- @seyiakiwowo and @GlitchUK_ team
- @ellenejudson
- @ysabelgerrard
- @Foxglovelegal team
- @sabrinaahmad_

PPS If you're interested in this thread, I write a weekly newsletter on content moderation and all its knotty complexities. In inboxes every Friday at midday, UK time. getrevue.co/profile/everyt…