UK: Anonymous Twitter Lives On Despite Backlash

Anonymous Twitter, Racists, and UK Football

2021 wasn't great for the image of UK football fans. There has been a long history of racism in association football, of course, going back many decades. But there was a surge of racist incidents on UK social media in 2021, kicking off with the arrest of a man for severe racial abuse of West Bromwich Albion midfielder Romaine Sawyers on social media.

That started a flurry of racist activity directed at footballers, a few of which were conducted from anonymous accounts. Aston Villa's Tyreik Wright received abusive and threatening Instagram messages, and at the same time, Signify released their analysis of season ticket holders abusing Granit Xhaka on social media.

Thus the challenge to anonymity on Twitter prompted the blog statement quoted above. It would have been nice if that was the end of it, but the end of the May UEFA Euro 2020 final kicked the bigotry into high gear. Those who missed their final penalty kicks were lambasted with racist abuse on just about every social media platform. Five people were arrested for their degree of threats and abuse.

There were over a dozen similar incidents in 2021, several leading to arrests or other disciplinary action. The government has vowed to get serious about helping to enforce bans on fans who are racially abusive online, but the opposition party has criticized them for not making a statement supporting players who 'took the knee' in support of racial diversity.

Former Labour first minister Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale has this to say on the subject:

"This is not just a problem for famous people. If anything it is a much more serious problem for members of the public. Twitter is a real problem here. There is a very simple solution and that would be for them or the Government to ban anonymous accounts on Twitter. That would stop the abuse. It would ensure that anybody who tries to be abusive or threatening can be prosecuted and it would be a simple measure for them given the scale of the operation now to introduce."

There was even a petition for the government to ban anonymous accounts online. At the time it was denied with the following statement:

"...online anonymity is an important principle of a free and open internet. There are many legitimate reasons why an individual would not wish to identify themselves online. Whistle-blowers, victims of modern slavery, and survivors of domestic abuse may need to conceal their identity online. Globally, anonymity can be an especially important component in protecting human rights and allowing journalists to operate, especially within authoritarian regimes, without fear of undue reprisal and detention. This would also apply to human rights defenders and journalists from abroad posting on UK-hosted sites."

But that was then.

Now, the Online Safety Bill has been passed which threatens anonymity online by calling for social media platforms to verify their identity when signing up for accounts.

Red Herrings and Defending Anonymous Twitter Accounts

Back to 2021... As it turned out, the entire fuss about anonymous Twitter accounts was a load of B.S.

The politicians were misinformed or (and this would be shocking) some of them might have been lying! Analysis showed that 99% of the accounts banned by Twitter for racist statements and messages in the wake of the Euro 2020 finals were 'named' accounts. The racists were proud to put their name to their bigoted worldview! They stood behind their statements, identity on full display, as Twitter banned them left and right.

So why the uproar about anonymous Twitter accounts, when only 1% of the abuse came from them? It was a red herring. The government, the clubs, and the talking heads were trying to find someone to blame… other than English football fans themselves.

As Twitter themselves pointed out:

"It is also important to acknowledge that the UK was – by far – the largest country of origin for the abusive tweets we removed on the night of the final and in the days that followed."

As far as the horrible reaction to the Euro finals, the overwhelming majority of bigots on social media were fans from England. The conservative government, to this day, refuses to support players who publicly support BLM, who take the knee of solidarity, or who speak out against racism. They would much rather muddy the waters with supposedly 'anonymous' abuse, instead of facing the epidemic of racism in England.

Studies that change only the name of two applicants to a job consistently show that hiring practices in England are either discriminatory or outright racist. Stop and search policies have a similar taint of discrimination. Hate crimes have risen alarmingly year on year for a decade.

But in 2021, despite statistics on hiring, black people being nine times more likely to be stopped and searched, and on a plethora of other institutional issues, the UK government issued a report denying that institutional racism exists.

With politicians refusing to acknowledge the systematic and very public racism and other bigotry present in the UK, it leaves a ridiculous gap between attempts at effective policy and the scientific reality of the situation.

So the blame has to lay somewhere, in their minds… and that 'somewhere' is anonymous Twitter accounts. Despite all facts to the contrary.

Anonymous Twitter lives on

When a conservative government shouts about the problem with anonymity online, make sure you look at the facts. If scientific studies and statistics show that 99% of the problem is coming from easily identifiable accounts, then something more is going on. Defend your anonymity, defend your rights.

Read why here: Online Anonymity is Important. Here’s How to Protect it