Fara Williams calls for trolls to be held 'to account’ for online abuse

Former Lionesses star Fara Williams is among the sixty famous athletes from across UK sport to have signed an open letter urging the new Government to better protect women and girls online. 

The letter, penned by EE and co-signed by the UK charity Glitch, calls for the proposed Online Safety Bill to be passed in its entirety and for the rules surrounding online sexist hate to be made more stringent. 

​​Read more about how EE is tackling online sexist hate via http://ee.co.uk/hopeunited

This letter follows the campaigning from EE’s Hope United – a team of elite footballers from across the UK, who sought to combat online sexist hate during Euro 2022 this year. 

While England went on to win the tournament in front of a record crowd at Wembley, statistics from HateLab found that 23 of the 25 members of the Lionesses squad were subject to online abuse from trolls at some point during the competition. 

Williams, who is England’s most-capped footballer of all time, spoke to GiveMeSport Women about these shocking figures and stressed how the issue of online abuse transcends further than just football.

Asked why she felt it necessary to sign EE’s open letter, Williams stressed how it’s essential those guilty of such abuse are condemned.

“It's to make social media platforms more accountable for the people that they let on their platforms and who are continuing to get away with any abuse or language that they use with no consequences. 

We’re trying to show, firsthand, the effect and the impact that it has on people, not just towards sportspeople but people in general.

Williams believes the government are currently unaware of what’s truly happening on social media and has called on them to become more conscious of what goes on