Sir Andy Murray: Wimbledon tennis legend says social media is breaking in support of Katie Boulter
“Athletes in all sports have been discussing for a long time, but there hasn’t really changed. Hopefully it will be done as soon as possible.”
Murray was asked about his point – both a former player and a father of four children – what can be done to eliminate toxic abuse.
Murray’s eldest son was nine years old, and his youngest was four. Many social media apps have a minimum age of 13.
Under the government’s online security laws, technology companies will have to do more to protect young people from harmful content. It was introduced in the phase, with social media platforms now under an obligation to protect users from illegal or harmful content, and more child safety measures will be introduced next month.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC government will also explore whether further protection measures can be taken on social media platforms.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) show that in 2024, about 8,000 abuse, violent or threatening information was publicly sent to 458 tennis players through their social media accounts.
Following Boulter’s comments, other tennis players demanded more action, including calling for the introduction of identity verification.
Several of England’s women’s soccer teams are also planning to give up social media for the upcoming European Championship defense in Switzerland.
Murray said: “I don’t know who is responsible, I don’t know if the government needs to do more to solve this problem, or [X owner] Elon Musk and such people can do more to prevent this information from being communicated to individuals.
“I’m not saying there are only athletes, but then you have the whole debate around freedom of speech, and it’s a difficult speech.”
Murray also said athletes can “resolve the problem by trying to avoid reading comments and helping themselves on our phones right after the game”, but without the responsibility to resolve the issue.
“I’ve seen the worst trolls and after having a baby, I no longer show their faces after having a baby.”
