Arsenal to ban fans from the Emirates Stadium for online abuse

For all the boons that social media has provided us with, certain banes are just part of the entire package and one of the major problems that we face today with the arrival of social media is the verbal abuse freely being used on almost every platform. Behind the facade of tweets, Facebook statuses and Instagram uploads are full of unwanted abuses and banter regarding a particular club that can sometimes hurt the sentiments of the players and the reputation of the football club itself. The number of reports of online abuse has seen a tremendous growth over the years and the law doesn’t seem to help too much.

Arsenal FC has taken the issue of online abuse very seriously and in an effort to keep the abuses at bay have partnered with ‘Kick it out’, an organisation who works towards eliminating discrimination. Together, both the organisations will try and recognize users who use partake in unacceptable banter and abuse and ban them from the club.

Known for its revolutionary Kick racism out of football campaign, ‘Kick it out’ is an organisation funded by the FA, PFA, PL and the EFL and has relentlessly worked towards making the environment more healthy and conducive. Reports suggest that this campaign which tries and eliminates online abuse has been working quite well as the North London club has taken strict actions towards the cause with the ban time being proportionate with the severity of the abuse used. An Arsenal blogger LeGrove recently posted a picture of the letter that is being circulated to the ones who are banned and in all honesty, they’re kicking the abuse right of the park.

One of the only limitations to this method is the use of fake profiles which makes identification very difficult but authorities assure that they will take every measure possible to make the campaign work and figure out the kinks in a systematic manner. Earlier this year, a 20 year old man was banned for abusing a disabled Celtic fan and this goes to show just how important the issue of abuse really is. The sport we all love and know should be free of the filth that goes around so rapidly all over the online community; sure, some friendly banter is always fun but limits must be maintained.