Culture secretary Oliver Dowden reinforces Government’s commitment to Online Harms Bill during visit to League One club Charlton
- Dowden reinforced commitment to introducing the Online Harms Bill
- He met members of Charlton’s men and women’s squad and staff on Tuesday
- English football has been rocked by an alarming increase in online abuse
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden reinforced the Government’s commitment to introducing the Online Harms Bill during a low-key visit to League One club Charlton on Tuesday.
The new legislation, which will make social media firms such as Twitter and Instagram accountable for content on their platforms, was officially unveiled in the Queen’s Speech with Whitehall aiming to have the law enforceable by the end of the year.
In recent months English football has been rocked by an alarming increase in sickening cases of online abuse directed at footballers on their social media accounts.
New legislation will make social media firms accountable for content on their platforms
And Dowden, the secretary for Culture, Media and Sport, met members of Charlton’s men and women’s squad and staff on Tuesday to update them on the forthcoming law changes, which should significantly reduce examples of online hate.
Dowden spoke personally to manager Nigel Adkins and first team coach Jason Euell to emphasise the Government’s determination to ensure the new legislation is passed through Parliament as quickly as possible.
The MP also personally praised Charlton for their community and equality, diversity and inclusion work.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden met members of Charlton players and staff on Tuesday
Sportsmail understands chair of the FA’s inclusion advisory board Paul Elliott, who started his career at Charlton, facilitated Dowden’s visit to the south London club.
Elliott, who was also at Charlton, has been working closely with FA chief executive Mark Bullingham in the governing body’s fight against online hate and discrimination within English football.
Anti-racism organisation Kick It Out has welcomed the announcement of the Online Harms Bill in the Queen’s Speech.
English football has been rocked by an alarming increase of online abuse directed at players
‘We are calling for it to be enacted in legislation as soon as possible,’ read a statement.
‘Social media companies must be held to account for protecting their users. It is therefore vital that any legislative and regulatory frameworks are robust and effective in requiring social media companies to do more to prevent, detect and remove discriminatory abuse from their platforms.
‘This opportunity must be seized to ensure that individuals and communities are protected from toxic online abuse.’