Corinthians campaign opens space to discuss violence on social networks

Between the 22nd and 25th of April, Corinthians promoted a “blackout” in the club’s communication, without granting interviews to the press or publishing content on social networks, as part of the Futebol Sem Ódio campaign.

With the silence, the objective was to draw attention to “the climate of violence and the dissemination of hate and fake news” which, according to the alvinegro, has been making football increasingly aggressive, “reaching the extreme of physical and psychological trauma for sports professionals”, as happened recently with goalkeeper Cássio, defender Gil and midfielder Willian and their respective families.

Corinthians’ proposal comes at a time of escalating violence in football, with attacks against athletes from various teams, such as Internacional and Bahia, and fights between fans in several cities across the country.

On the networks, the campaign divided fans, some accused the strategy of being a way for the squad to dodge the defeat to Palmeiras, last Saturday (23), and even questioned the efficiency of silence to combat misinformation.

Even though it has generated results contrary to expectations and there is a lot to be said about the execution of the campaign, it is important that a club has finally put this issue up for debate.

It is not today that high toxicity is perceived in social media and in football discussion forums, which includes insults to other professionals in the field, especially journalists who cover the sport. Women, of course, suffer more, as is the case of ESPN Brasil narrator Luciana Mariano, who stated in a recent interview that she has already opened 156 lawsuits because of the attacks and threats she receives via social networks.

However, the problem will not be solved by a single club or a single awareness action.

A football without hate would only be possible in a society without hate, because what happens on digital platforms is simply a reflection of violence, machismo, homophobia and racism rooted in offline life, tempered with large doses of clubism and the false idea of that anonymity protects.

It is important that a football club of the magnitude of the alvinegro from São Paulo, with tens of millions of fans, proposes to make the nexus between what happens inside and outside social media, showing how inflamed and violent speeches have intensified and what consequences this can have. But it is important that this is accompanied by other teams, journalists and organizations involved with sport, with continuous education and awareness actions about the potential and challenges of sociability fans in digital media — which is nothing more than a question of citizenship in connected times.