Facts: UEFA’s work against cyber hatred
In connection with the European Football Championship in England starting on July 6, the European Football Association (UEFA) launched a so-called “respect program”, where one of the pillars is the work against net hatred.
Among other things, Uefa wants to train players in how to tackle and defend against threats and hatred online. At the same time, a new platform has been launched to be able to monitor, report and take action against cyber-hatred. To ensure that harmful content is removed, Uefa writes that it will work in direct contact with major social media platforms such as Twitter, Meta and Tiktok.
Uefa also works in close cooperation with all participating nations in the European Championships, and has reviews with the relevant national teams after all matches.
A first summary of how much online hatred has affected the European Championship tournament comes after the group stage.
Source: Uefa.
As women’s football has grown, the players’ star status has increased, and with it the interest from outside. Most of the time it is for good, but in recent years the growing problems with hatred and threats online cannot be dismissed either.
Before the European Championships, the Swedish national team is well aware of what can wait after a bad team effort, or a costly individual mistake.
– We have talked about everything that can happen. I can only speak for myself and I usually try to stay away from social media during the championships. I can post something, but I do not sit and scroll in my comments. Often there are very nice shouts, but then something can appear that can lie and grow in the head completely unnecessarily, says Rosengård attacker Olivia Schough.
Juventus defender Linda Sembrant is on the same track.
– I like to be a bit in a bubble during the championship. I try to stay away, because somewhere it still affects us, even if it’s a person who does not mean anything to me. To get negative input, you do not need that, says Sembrant.
Crime or not?
The players are not alone in this. The Swedish Football Association has a security apparatus around the European Championships, and that includes the digital threat.
– We follow the digital risk picture very much. If there is a threat and hatred on social media, we follow it and act against it, says Stefan Dejemyr, head of security in the Swedish national team.
TT: How big a part has digital become?
– A relatively large part. Man is so shapely that if you have social media to act through, you can be a little tougher in your rhetoric. This means that there may be comments that may be inappropriate in various ways, and sometimes completely illegal.
Stefan Dejemyr, safety manager for the Swedish women’s national team, will ensure that the Swedish European Championship squad feels safe.
First and foremost, it’s about identifying comments that may be illegal.
– All crimes should be prosecuted, for example by passing it on to the authorities for further handling. But then there can be moral violations, and it’s harder to deal with. Then it’s about shutting down, distancing yourself instead. It’s just like in the physical world, if there is someone you do not want to have continued contact with, then you distance yourself.
No ban
No ban on social media has been introduced. Instead, the national team works systematically to capture inappropriate comments and outbursts. So does the European Football Association (UEFA), which in connection with the European Championship premiere between the home nation England and Austria launched a new project to capture and prevent online hate on social media such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok.
Around the match, 41 comments were identified, states Uefa, of which 28 were notified to the platform concerned. These included comments containing sexism, homophobia and hatred and were aimed specifically at women’s football, at teams or at individual players.
Magdalena Eriksson knows what it’s about. As an openly gay man, Chelseabacken, who lives with Danish star Pernille Harder, has seen his fair share.
– I think it has been consistent since 2019 approximately, when me and Pernille became very profiled as a couple. Since then, there have almost always been about 90 percent positive and 10 percent homophobic comments or messages. And it’s so sick, because you think “well, that’s the way it is”, says Eriksson.
“It felt”
The European Championships in England seem to break all previous records in terms of interest in a women’s championship – and it can probably be felt online, Eriksson believes.
– Since we will get even more attention this summer and play in even bigger arenas purely in terms of TV viewing as well, you have to be prepared that there may be even more during this championship. And that’s something we’ve been talking about, that we’re prepared for it to come.
The national team’s goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl has also experienced a lot. She emphasizes that criticism is one thing, it may have to be accepted, but that threats are something completely different.
– I received a real threat, which really felt in my stomach. I do not care much about much else, I have a distance to my name, it is not so personal anymore. But it was felt, says Lindahl.
– Maybe you have to learn to take criticism and sometimes you deserve criticism, but you have to react to threats and I think that the union has been very clear about how we should act, that it is never okay, that you have to report to the police and so on.