Social media boycott: Welsh rugby joins football in move to tackle abuse
- Published
Cooper pleased others have followed Swans social media stance
Wales' rugby regions and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) will join football's social media boycott to tackle abuse and discrimination.
The Welsh Rugby Players Association (WRPA) will also join the four-day boycott of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
They will stop social media activity from 15:00 BST on Friday, 30 April until 23:59 on Monday.
The Football Association of Wales will also take part.
"The Cymru National Teams are fully supportive of the action that football and other sports are taking this coming weekend and will join the social media boycott across our official channels," the FAW said in a statement.
Swansea City, Cardiff City, Newport County and Wrexham had already announced they would not be posting on their social media platforms for the duration.
Glamorgan County Cricket club will be switching off social media accounts along with other first-class counties, the England and Wales Cricket Board, women's regional teams and Professional Cricketers' Association.
Scottish football and rugby clubs will also be involved, as will England Rugby, Premiership Rugby, English rugby clubs and the Rugby Players' Association.
The Welsh Rugby Union, which previously called for a halt to social media abuse of Wales players after messages aimed at Liam Williams, said in a statement: "This is a matter that the WRU takes seriously, having shed light on the abuse received by its players in the past - most recently during this year's Guinness Six Nations campaign.
"We are aware that eradicating online abuse won't happen overnight, but we hope that this weekend's social media boycott will be the first of many steps towards doing so."
The boycott will also be observed by the WRPA and the Welsh Pro14 regions.
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The Football Association of Wales (FAW) also backed the social media boycott.
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The move comes three weeks after Swansea turned off their social media accounts for a week to make a stand against abuse after a number of their players were targeted.
Swansea and Cardiff have both confirmed they will join the rest of the EFL clubs in this weekend's boycott along with Newport, who called on their stakeholders to follow suit.
"All directors, first-team players, academy players, club staff and volunteers will stop posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok over the four-day period," said the League Two club in a statement.
"We would like to encourage our supporters, sponsors and partners in joining in with boycott as we stand shoulder to shoulder with other football clubs, governing bodies and organisations to make a stand against online discriminatory abuse.
"Newport County AFC understands the importance and value of social media in communicating with our supporters. However, social media companies must do more to eradicate abuse on their platforms. Enough is enough."
National League side Wrexham have also said they will be joining in with the boycott and "standing together to urge social media companies to do more to eradicate this behaviour".
Manager Dean Keates said: "The fact that racism is still being discussed in these times is hugely disappointing.
"We're talking about something that should have been ended generations ago and should not be considered now.
"Social media companies need to do more to stop online hate, aimed at footballers who are only doing their job.
"Personally, this season I've received messages from people wishing Covid and ill health on myself and my family.
"It is not just players and football staff either - other members of club staff and volunteers have received similar messages from people hiding behind anonymous accounts.
"People believe they can conduct themselves in this way online, and the level of abuse aimed at players and staff in football is embarrassing, which is why social media companies must take more responsibility."
Celtic Dragons netball team also backed the boycott.
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