Watchdog must fine social media companies that are slow to remove racism after Jess Carter abuse, says culture secretary
Carter has declared herself ready to play in the Women's European Championship semi-final against Italy on Tuesday after speaking out on the hate she has faced online during the tournament.
Players have expressed frustration they are having to use their platform to pressure the tech firms, given how often footballers have had to deal with racist abuse.
There is now the Online Safety Act which should be compelling the companies to take action.
"We've introduced new laws so that platforms are under a legal obligation to take down that sort of disgusting content immediately," Ms Nandy told Sky News.
"And they can be pursued through fines, through Ofcom, if they don't do it.
"It's now up to those platforms and up to Ofcom to fulfil those roles that we've given them and make sure that this is stamped out online, that it's dealt with very quickly."
But Kick It Out chairman Sanjay Bhandari told Sky News on Sunday that "it's got worse on social media, not better" - singling out Elon Musk's X and Mark Zuckerberg's Instagram.
Neither of the companies has responded to requests for comment, including via a public X post.
England defender Lucy Bronze said "online abuse is getting worse and worse" in women's football.
Ms Nandy said: "The racial abuse that's been directed at Jess Carter is utterly disgusting and unfortunately is too common for women at the top of their game, not just in football but across sport as a whole.
"We're considering as a government what more we can do to protect women players who reach those levels of exposure."
The government has made dealing with sports issues a priority, with legislation passed today to introduce an independent regulator for men's football.
The watchdog aims to ensure clubs are run sustainably and are accountable to their fans.
Ms Nandy said: "There are now protections in law for fans and for clubs to make sure that we have really fit and proper owners; that there is somebody who can tackle rogue owners when problems arise, that we get a proper financial flow to ensure the sustainability of clubs throughout the football pyramid and to make that fans are put back at the heart of the game where they belong."
The Premier League remains concerned the regulator could harm the success of its competition through unintended consequences.
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Reform UK council leader says police should be able to ‘shoot people if necessary'
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The Independent
6 minutes ago
- The Independent
Usyk vs Dubois II: The intense training regime the Brit has adopted for undisputed title bid
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Stage one - Strength Professional pre-fight training camps usually last between six and eight weeks. Ahead of the Usyk fight, Dubois and his team committed to 14 weeks. Otti split these 14 weeks into three main phases, each with a different training focus. 'At the beginning of the camp we are focused on his foundation and the fundamentals,' Otti says. 'We focus more on his strength because this takes the least energy.' During this phase, the pair hit classic compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, rows and presses. Over four weeks, they will start with 12-rep sets, then progress the weight to build to tough sets of five. 'The best fighters of all time, like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, they just kept it old school,' says Otti. 'Then we're implementing the new styles and new methods of training to give us that slight edge. But let's not fix what's not broken – keep it simple.' After this initial stage, sparring starts, and Otti and Dubois move on to circuit training to develop muscular endurance. The aim is to elevate the fighter's heart rate above 170bpm, then challenge him to recover quickly from these intense efforts. 'Nothing's ever written in stone [with these sessions],' Otti says. 'But the main focus, when he's also sparring, is his explosiveness and muscular endurance. 'When it comes to measuring someone's fitness, everybody's always keen on cardiovascular endurance, but it's not just cardiovascular endurance [we need to consider]. You also need muscular endurance as well. 'Both have to work in sync. When your fighter is tired, it's the mind that tells them they're tired, but you can't distinguish whether it's telling you the muscles are tired or your cardiovascular system is tired, so you've got to tap into both.' Many of the exercises in these circuits would be unrecognisable to even seasoned gym-goers – Otti has created them for Dubois' specific needs. 'I might have a Swiss ball, and I'll come to him with the Swiss ball at every single angle and he has to push me with it,' he explains. 'I'm going to give him constant pressure for a period of time. 'From there, we might go straight to battle ropes to build muscular endurance around the shoulder, then box jumps, and straight from there to resistance sprints and ball slams.' Some of the exercises are done for a set amount of time, while others are performed for a target number of reps. 'Then he has a 45-second break,' Otti continues. 'Within that break, he can decide to start again whenever he wants, but he has a maximum of 45 seconds to recover.' The ability to recover is crucial. Anyone can go into the ring swinging for three minutes in isolation, Otti says, but not many people can do it consistently and proficiently for 12 rounds. Stage three - Tapering In the final weeks before the event, training is pared back to ensure Dubois arrives fresh, injury free and firing on all cylinders come fight night. 'Now, as the fight is fast approaching, we're tapering down,' says Otti. 'We're more focused on plyometric training, core [work], activating his fast-twitch muscle fibres, getting his feet to move quicker, [working] his biomotor system and stuff like that.' This includes exercises such as box jump variations, kettlebell jumps and several single-leg exercises. Training is also designed to magnify Dubois' strengths – knockout power, relentless pressure and sound technical foundations, to name a few. 'Some people say to focus on your weaknesses, but real experts always say focus on your strengths,' says Otti. 'With Daniel, his strength is not something that he worked on, it's something that's God given. 'The other components already exist, it's just a matter of activating them, and that comes from consistency. 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The Independent
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Liz Kendall's announcement of a new review into the state pension age has drawn a strong response from readers, especially older workers and pensioners who feel increasingly squeezed by reforms they see as both unfair and unrealistic. Many took issue with the idea of raising the retirement age again, warning that it fails to account for physical decline, especially among manual workers. 'My knees have packed in,' said one 73-year-old, who retired at 65 after a lifetime of physical labour. 'There's no way I could keep doing the work I used to.' Several readers questioned Ms Kendall's assertion that future pensioners should take heed and save more, with many pointing out that saving is only an option for the wealthy or those with disposable incomes. A recurring theme was frustration at a system seen to punish those who had 'done everything right' – saving into private pensions and paying contributions, only to be left with little support. 'He told me to retire penniless,' another reader said of her father's bitter advice, 'because then you get everything.' A few commenters looked to the future, suggesting that instead of clinging to outdated models, the government should explore policies like basic income to address the long-term impacts of AI and inequality. Here's what you had to say: Pensioners don't drain the system Pensioners are nearly always referred to as if they're draining the system of something they're not entitled to. Forgotten is the fact that most of them worked until 65 and paid what was due until they did. As we now know, it doesn't protect them from poverty in old age. Only those with private pensions, which are also subject to taxation that wasn't foreseen when many set these plans up, have enough to cover basic costs. Saving? How does the average worker do that? They can hardly afford to put food on the table and get by. Take more money out of people's pockets, which cuts spending, and even more high streets will become derelict and industries will fail. Increasing retirement age? A friend died at 69 recently, and another at 72 (neither were manual workers). Increasing retirement age for manual workers would be cruel as well as disastrous, or are people supposed to work until they drop? Too many pensioners are having to desperately look for jobs to boost pensions that don't enable them to eat and heat. Maybe it's time the government took a look at some of the systems that work in other countries! Quick-fix ideas aren't the solution. A system fit for purpose, where everyone pays their fair share and people can retain their dignity and are able to live without having to calculate how and if they're entitled to benefits or charity to get by, is the only sensible way forward. Will it happen? I would lie if I said I was optimistic! Ambigirls Do you think the state pension age should rise — or is it already too high? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Reform, not tinkering There are issues with the triple lock, but the savings narrative is a fiction. As people (particularly working-class people) approach 70, they are more likely to find themselves unable to find suitable employment or be underemployed. So they will require working-age benefits. It is not difficult to imagine that there would also be increased costs on the health system as ageing bodies are required to work more and more. Further, it is likely that around one-third of millennials will end their working lives in the private rental sector, so housing support will be required at greater levels. We cannot keep tinkering with these systems just to balance the books on paper. We must reform the tax code and the social security net to make both fit for the modern age. lostboy88 Punished for saving My dad saved, paid into private pensions and paid his contributions. He was never unemployed and did everything the government asked him to do. When he retired, he found to his disgust that he was entitled to very little from the state – effectively punished for having saved, etc, whilst others who contributed nothing were given everything by the state. That's socialism. He told me to never make his mistake and ensure I retired penniless to get the maximum back from all I had paid in. saghia Work until we die? OK, so here we have the result of all those people who wanted to avoid benefits cuts. The alternative is for working people to work longer. Some benefit cuts were needed, in my opinion. And before anyone suggests a 0.2 per cent tax on billionaires – whether we like it or not – they can leave the UK, fly in from time to time if they really want to, and then we'd lose the huge amount they do pay in tax. What then? Work until we die? Ordinary people are paying for a few too many freeloaders, in my opinion. Where is the sympathy for non-unionised people who work and pay tax? Hi5 Saving is not the answer Saving? Saving is NOT the answer. If we try to save more, we spend less. If we spend less, businesses sell and make less, so they invest less... just the opposite of what we need to increase the output needed to pay pensions. It is a good example of the confused thinking that affects so many people. An individual who saves more will have more to spend in retirement than they would otherwise have. If we all try to do that, we are all worse off. What is right for an individual is often not right collectively (wet wipes, panic buying, burning smoky fuel, saving for retirement, etc). The Fallacy of Composition. much0ado People aren't saving because they can't People aren't saving because they can't – it's that simple. There is no money left at the end of the month to save anything because of the cost of living. A large majority of people are having to live pay cheque to pay cheque with no slack. Unless something is done about that, then there is a huge problem being stored up for the future, let alone Reeves saying she was going after people's savings!! deadduck Gross inequality is the root of our problems The government can't simply keep increasing the state pension age for one reason: some people become physically incapable of working when they get a little bit older. Asking a manual worker to keep digging holes when he's nearly 70 is absurd. The government needs to deal with tax evasion and avoidance, including offshore. I'd also introduce a land value tax, which forces the wealthy to pay their share. Gross inequality is the root cause of many of our societal problems, and it's time it was addressed. You don't deal with it by taxing working people more – you tax the ultra wealthy who pay basically nothing. flying scot It makes sense to raise the pension age People are largely living longer because of better living conditions, nutrition and healthcare. For example, I'm now much older than all my grandparents were when they died. Although the most vulnerable must still be cared for, it makes sense to raise the pension age to reflect this change in society – it is the 21st century rather than the 1900s... hayneman Onsalught on working-class people I'm 73, retired at 65 and did manual work most of my life. My knees have packed in, and the rest of my body is slowly packing in now – there is no way I am able to do the sort of work I did when I was younger, and haven't been able for well over 10 years now. This is the case for many manual workers. How can Kendall, Reeves, Streeting, Starmer etc. call themselves a Labour government with this continual onslaught on working-class people? The trade unions should withdraw support and funding immediately and advise their members to place their votes elsewhere, preferably not in Farage's direction, though. manwithnoname The future looks unpredictable We must bear in mind that the relentless march of AI and other systems is considerably reducing the number of jobs in many sectors dependent on 'exchanges of data', from simple insurance to DVLA or HMRC, for instance... The list is endless. How can these workers be 'recycled' in the short term? How do we ensure that those mythical 16-year-old voters HAVE some employment to look forward to after finishing their studies, at whatever level? Importing 'low-grade' labour is eating into the job supply at the bottom end, while all those 'surgeons and engineers' cream off the top end... The future looks unpredictable for too many youngsters. Problems must be addressed now! Failure to do that will make the triple lock – an invaluable resource to many pensioners still – look like change from the back of the sofa... YvesFerrer These reviews are so detached from people's realities Financial literacy is not taught in schools. I suspect a large proportion of people who are not planning for retirement don't understand money very well. Also, a huge number of people don't have enough disposable income to save at a level that would give a comfortable retirement. You need, in current terms, around £300,000 to £500,000 in private funds. That is for someone who owns their own home. If you retire but have to still pay for rented accommodation, you've got no chance. These reviews are so detached from people's realities. After paying tax and National Insurance for 50 years, I get my State Pension next year – and I will be paying income tax on it :) Lithiumiron Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.
