“I am open to people having their opinions, but not only to insult, abuse and use a mobile to say what they want about a person they do not even know. This has to be eradicated because it is doing a lot of damage to football “. The complaint of the Arsenal coach, Mikel Arteta, serves to warn about the radicalization of the so-called social networks – although many times they seem precisely the opposite – which perhaps in the case of football has increased since the games are played behind closed doors . As if the hooligans had changed the stands for social networks.
As stated Francesc Pujol, Director del Media, Reputation and Intangibles Center de la university of Navarra, “We are moving towards an era of systemic disinformation. There have always been lies and manipulation, but now we have the necessary ingredients to be used as a weapon of social destabilization, since the content that is best disseminated on social networks provoke primary emotions. Fear, anger and indignation are food for hatred. And this becomes the perfect ally of the simplification of the problems, of the frentism, of the populism “.
Kike Marin
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That said, in the case of sport in general, but in football very specifically, In addition to misinformation, the problem of social networks is insults, especially racists, and even the threats that the aforementioned Arteta claims to have received. And not only him, but also his family. The San Sebastian is clear that “we are all exposed to this”, hence he assures that “I prefer not to read anything, because it would affect me personally much more” and that “when they threatened us, we put it in the hands of the club.” It is clear that you can live without social networks, although not with your back to them. The Arsenal manager has a Twitter account, although he has not used it since August last year.
“Yes, I am a black man and every day I live proud of being one. No one, nor any comment, will make me feel different,” he wrote Marcus Rashford on his profile, after suffering all kinds of racist insults. “The abuse should be easy to stop, just deactivate the accounts”the Manchester United forward told Sky Sports News. “We know that it is very easy to create four or five accounts, but if you have to block all of them, then all are blocked. Social networks are a place where people should enjoy, connect with people from all over the world and from different cultures and religions. Using them in a negative way is stupid, “he lamented.
Letter to Zuckerberg and Dorsey
The truth is, in addition to gestures such as kneeling just before the start of the matches and wearing the ‘no room for racism’ logo, there is no place for racism, various institutions of English football, from the very Premier League, the English federation, the so-called FA and which includes women’s football, the referee’s college, the coaches’ association and the equality and inclusion organization Kick It Out, have sent a letter to Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, in which they recriminate that “your lack of actions has created the tendency that the people who insult are above good and evil. The tireless flow of racist and discriminatory messages is fed back.”
“The targets of insults should have some kind of basic protection and we ask that you accept your responsibilities to prevent this practice from appearing on your platforms,” claim these associations. Among the actions they request are filter and block messages before they can be sent if they contain racist material, use tougher measures to eliminate racist messages, a verification system so that the police can identify the aggressors and that repeat offenders cannot open new accounts.
It is true that, as Mikel Arteta has denounced on several occasions, social networks “have a great responsibility in this, because they affect the mental health of the players and it is evident how exposed they are”. However, and as with journalists and the media, the solution is not to kill the messenger, especially since social networks also have their positive side. The key is in education, in learning to get away from the people who provoke those primary emotions.
Twitter before Facebook and WhatsApp
Just as Francesc Pujol recommends not using Facebook as a source of information, much less WhatsApp, since those close to them have a greater impact and effectiveness and that is why shared content is the most prone to the spread of false news, “Twitter is also part of the problem of this systemic misinformation, but at the same time it is the main platform to free oneself from them and grow in personal criteria “.
‘Against disinformation, Twitter’, is in fact the headline of his successful analysis, in which the professor from the University of Navarra advises to follow journalists and experts who are cited, retweeted or recommended by their solvent colleagues, never enter a trending topic to find out, leave pass everything through the filter of the people you follow on Twitter and reiterate the whole process constantly, increasing the number of journalists and experts you follow and expelling those who are unable to reason or analyze.
Opinion –
Pedro Cifuentes
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Come on, instead of thinking that “the dog died, the rage is over” and fleeing from social networks for not accepting criticism, putting up with what you don’t like or taking advantage of the good things they have, striving to be you who controls them and not let yourself be controlled by them. It should be remembered that the English federation sanctioned with three games and a fine of 110,000 euros to the Uruguayan Edinson Cavani for affectionately calling an admirer “negrito”. A comment that was considered “insulting, abusive and improper”, with the “aggravation” that the Manchester United striker alluded to the “color, race or ethnic origin” of his admirer.
Who knows, perhaps they tried to be exemplary precisely with the new holligans of social networks, although not only they lost their hand, but also their heads. As he wrote Benjamin Franklin, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.” And that’s what it’s about, educating to know how to differentiate, who to follow and who to block, although the most effective thing is to silence.
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