Arsenal football club legend, Thierry Henry has on Friday announced he will disable his social media accounts until racist users are held accountable by the tech companies.
He said he is quitting social media until online abuse is regulated “with the same vigour and ferocity” that copyright infringements are.
Henry, who recently left his role as Montreal Impact head coach, is demanding accountability from social media companies and says he will keep himself off their platforms until it is no longer easy to create an account with the intention of harassing another user and remaining anonymous.
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The former Arsenal and France captain made the announcement across his social media platforms on Friday, March 26 after so many black footballers including Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and Tyrone Mings complained about racist abuse they receive on social media.
Henry says social media companies such as Twitter and Instagram are not doing all they can to prevent racism on their platforms and he will not return to social media until a change has been made.
He wrote;
Hi Guys.
From tomorrow morning I will be removing myself from social media until the people in power are able to regulate their platforms with the same vigour and ferocity that they currently do when you infringe copyright.
The sheer volume of racism, bullying and resulting mental torture to individuals is too toxic to ignore. There HAS to be some accountability.
It is far too easy to create an account, use it to bully and harrass without consequence and still remain anonymous.
Until this changes, I will be disabling my accounts across all social platforms. I’m hoping this happens soon.
Hi Guys
From tomorrow morning I will be removing myself from social media until the people in power are able to regulate their platforms with the same vigour and ferocity that they currently do when you infringe copyright…. pic.twitter.com/gXSObqo4xg
— Thierry Henry (@ThierryHenry) March 26, 2021
Read Also: Instagram Threatens Clampdown On Users Following Racist Abuse Of Premier League Players
Last July, Henry made a statement by taking a knee for the first eight minutes and 46 seconds of a match against New England Revolution.
He also showed solidarity following the death of George Floyd, who died early 2020 after a Minnesota police officer pressed his knee on his neck for the same amount of time as Henry knelt.
Read Also: #BlackLivesMatter: Minneapolis Agrees To Pay $27m Settlement To George Floyd’s Family
Henry also explained the abuse he received after moving to the New York Red Bulls in an interview last year.
He expressed;
At one point, I said people didn’t see my colour any more because I played football, because I was, in brackets, famous.
When I came to play in the US, my colour came back because no one could recognise me, depending on which state we were in. My colour came back. It was the first time again that I felt like I left my neighbourhood.
Henry stated;
When I arrived in New York, some people could recognise me and some couldn’t.
When you ask for a cab, he looks and sees you are a certain colour and puts the light on and suddenly he isn’t free any more. You’re left like, ‘Hang on I’m alone here’. It hit me again.
