The ‘Make ID a requirement for social media’ petition is going viral with 600,000 signatures
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Sako were racially online abused after missing penalties during the Euro final
In the aftermath of the 2020 Euros, trolls have been targeting England’s star players. Twitter has deleted over 1000 racist tweets, and Facebook has called the abuse 'abhorrent.' Katie Price (yes that Katie Price) started the ‘Make verified ID a requirement for opening a social media account’ petition which has now garnered over half a million signatures online in the wake of the abuse.
The petition calls to make ID a requirement for social media accounts, and it has been backed by other celebrities such as Laura Whitmore. Having an ID would prevent, the petition says, 'anonymised harmful activity, providing traceability if an offence occurs'.
Price explained, ‘To make the law work needs the removal of anonymity to ensure that users cannot cause harm by using online platforms to abuse others. Where an offence has taken place they ought to be easily identified and reported to the police and punished. We have experienced the worst kind of abuse towards my disabled son and want to make sure that no one can hide behind their crime.’
The former model and reality star started the petition after suffering through years of her son Harvey, facing abuse online. Price claims the Government's Online Safety Bill 'doesn't go far enough in making online abuse a specific criminal offence'.
The petition is now going viral on social media, with people joining in support of the players.