Thierry Henry has announced that he would remove himself from social media until authorities find answers to the rising cases of racism on the platforms.
The 43-year-old former Arsenal and FC Barcelona star took to his Twitter page on Friday, March 26, to say that he would no longer be available on social media from tomorrow, March 27, 2021.
Thierry Henry who has coached French Ligue 1 side, Monaco before moving to the Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact in 2019 has been a strong advocate for social justice. He has used his platform to speak against racism especially after the murder of George Floyd.
The most recent and most popular move he made against racism was when he took a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds ahead of Impact’s MLS game with New England Revolution. The move was to protest against racism following the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in the United States.
The Arsenal’s legend who recently resigned from his position as the coach of Montreal Impact due to family concerns had recently revealed that he was a victim of racist attacks when he was a footballer and after retirement.
However, he did not reveal whether he was recently attacked by racists but he said he wants authorities in charge of social media to take the issue of racism as seriously as they take the issue of copyright infringement.
“From tomorrow (Saturday) morning I will be removing myself from social media until the people in power can regulate their platforms with the same vigor and ferocity that they currently do when you infringe copyright…”, Thierry Henry tweeted.
Hi Guys
— Thierry Henry (@ThierryHenry) March 26, 2021
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…. pic.twitter.com/gXSObqo4xg
He wrote on a screenshot he attached to his tweet that: “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 harass 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.”
This means that Thierry Henry might end up losing the 10 million likes he has on his Facebook page. He could also lose his 2.3 million followers on Twitter and his 2.7 million followers on Instagram.
Hence, his fans are anxiously hoping that the former Arsenal, Barcelona, Monaco, and New York Red Bulls star would change his mind before Saturday morning.
On the other hand, Henry’s fans would hope that authorities and owners of the online platforms would take a drastic decision between now and Saturday that would encourage the football icon to remain on social media.
