Arsenal FC legend, Thierry Henry has announced he would disable all his social media accounts until racist users are probed for their posts by the platforms.
Henry made the announcement on his social media platforms recently after a lot of black footballers including Marcus Rashford, Tyrone Mings and Raheem Sterling complained about racist abuse they get on social media.
Henry said social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram are not doing enough to prevent racism on their platforms, as such, he would not return to social media until a change has been effected.
While making the announcement, Henry wrote: “Hi Guys.
“From tomorrow morning I will be removing myself from social media until the people in power are able to regulate their platforms with the same vigour and ferocity that they currently do when you infringe copyright.
“The sheer volume of racism, bullying and resulting mental torture to individuals is too toxic to ignore. There HAS to be some accountability.
“It is far too easy to create an account, use it to bully and harrass without consequence and still remain anonymous.
“Until this changes, I will be disabling my accounts across all social platforms. I’m hoping this happens soon.”
Henry made a statement last July by taking a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds when a match against New England Revolution started.
Also, he showed solidarity after the death of George Floyd, who passed on early 2020 after a Minnesota police officer stomped his knee on his neck for the same amount of time that Henry knelt.
Furthermore, he explained the abuse he got after moving to the New York Red Bulls during an interview last year.
Henry said: “At one point, I said people didn’t see my colour any more because I played football, because I was, in brackets, famous.
“When I came to play in the US, my colour came back because no one could recognise me, depending on which state we were in. My colour came back. It was the first time again that I felt like I left my neighbourhood.
“When I arrived in New York, some people could recognise me and some couldn’t.
“When you ask for a cab, he looks and sees you are a certain colour and puts the light on and suddenly he isn’t free any more. You’re left like, ‘Hang on I’m alone here’. It hit me again.”
