Former Arsenal and France team striker, Thierry Henry has decided that he will be absent from social networks as long as they have not resolved the problems of moderation.
"I hope the change will happen soon," said the 1998 world champion, whose decision follows that of American supermodel Chrissy Teigen.
Coach Thierry Henry, top scorer for the France team and 1998 world champion, announced on Friday that he would be absent from social networks as long as the platforms did not act more against "racism", the "intimidation" and "the resulting mental torture".
"The sheer volume of racism, intimidation and resulting mental torture is too toxic to ignore," said the coach in an English message sent to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to his 14.8 million followers .
Henry calls for "responsibility"
The former Arsenal and FC Barcelona striker (43), who has just left his CF Montreal coaching duties for family reasons, called for "responsibility" and asked "those in charge to regulate their platforms with as much vigor and ferocity as they do when copyright infringes. "
This shouldn't have to be the answer.
# StopOnlineAbusepic.twitter.com / haz9h2hiEI
- Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 27, 2021
"It is far too easy to create an account, to use it to intimidate and harass without consequence while remaining anonymous," he also argued.
"Until that changes, I will deactivate my accounts on all social platforms. I hope the change will happen soon."
Twitter more and more criticized
Like other tech giants, Twitter is increasingly criticized for facilitating torrents of abuse against users, usually from anonymous accounts, in often racist or misogynistic posts.
Twitter assured, in a statement released last week, that there was "no room for racist abuse" on its platform and that it was working to crack down on abuses against footballers.
Thierry Henry's decision to deactivate his social media accounts comes a few days after American Chrissy Teigen, top model and cookbook author, quit Twitter after being abused.