Ofcom warned toxic abuse threatens female sport

Sport England wants to know how Ofcom intends to tackle online trolls

The head of Sport England has written to Ofcom, the communications industry regulator, to express its "deep concern regarding the recent wave of racist and sexist abuse" directed at England's women's football team on social media.

Chris Boardman, the chairman of the community sport funding agency, said "the toxic culture that persists online threatens to undermine" efforts to increase rates of female participation.

Lionesses defender Jess Carter has revealed she has been targeted with online racist abuse throughout the tournament.

In a letter seen by BBC Sport, Boardman warned: "This behaviour is abhorrent and unacceptable in any context, but it is especially disheartening given the progress we have made in championing women and girls in sport.

"Through Sport England and National Lottery investment, we have committed hundreds of millions of pounds to increase participation, visibility and opportunity for women and girls in sport."

In October 2023, the Online Safety Act became law, ensuring social media platforms have a duty to protect users from content such as racism, with Ofcom responsible for enforcing the legislation, and developing codes of practice to guide tech companies. However, some anti-racism campaigners believe there needs to be more urgency.

"The Online Safety Act 2023 provides a framework to address illegal and harmful content, including hate speech and misogynistic abuse," wrote Boardman.

"We are particularly interested in how the new codes can be used to address the kind of targeted abuse we are seeing. We understand that Ofcom has also issued draft guidance on improving online safety for women and girls, and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss how these measures can be strengthened and enforced.

"For too long, internet trolls have been given free rein by the big tech companies to spread bile and misery, and this cannot be allowed to continue.

"Could you please advise what further steps can be taken within the current regulatory framework to tackle misogyny and racism online?"

In a statement, Jessica Zucker, Online Safety Director at Ofcom, said: "No-one should have to put up with this kind of vile abuse.

"The UK's new online safety laws mean tech firms must now take action when they know someone's broken the law on their platform.

"When all the rules are fully in force, the largest social media sites will also have to give users more power to filter out anything that isn't illegal. And we've set out ways online services should go further to tackle misogyny and pile-ons that are targeted at women.

"We'll be holding companies to account, but this needs to happen alongside effective education and law enforcement against the individuals who post illegal abuse."

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told BBC Sport that social media companies and Ofcom "need to do more".

"I think the act will continue to be tested every time a problem surfaces and it's incumbent on those such as Ofcom and social media platforms to be proactive in rooting this out," she said.

"We brought in the Online Harms Act this year to make sure there are sanctions for companies that don't take this content down and we are doing a lot of work in schools to educate young people about the impact of online abuse but it's incumbent on all of us to call this out.

"It's absolutely disgraceful what [Jess Carter] has had to put up with and we are completely behind her and the Lionesses."

Earlier this month, research from anti-discrimination body Kick It Out showed that sexist abuse online was preventing fans from posting during Women's Euro 2005, and could be discouraging the next generation of girls from getting involved in football.

Polling of 2,000 British adults showed that 52% believe online sexism is putting girls off engaging with football.