Ollie Robinson's tweets eight-nine years ago are not forgivable at all, but it has shown that anything posted on social media at this age can be toxic.
Follow Us
When one created social media in the modern era, the aim was to make a public figure closer to the public. Social media, be it Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin have all connected people in ways it never did before the 21st century. Add Whatsapp, Reddit, Quora, Pinterest, Telegram and the list of communication modes is endless. For the media, social media is the ultimate platform of growth. Twitter is a live newspaper, Instagram is a pool of images while Facebook is a public forum for views, opinions and photo features.
For sportsmen, politicians, actors and every public personality, social media is the tool to promote their views, brand endorsements and controversial or non-controversial opinions. However, the social media of this time has degraded to be a cesspool of racism, misogyny, trolling and mental disintegration. Views that are disagreed upon see trolling. In the case of women, there are threats to life as well as rape.
Recently, in England, there have been two cases of some old tweets by some England players. Ollie Robinson, who made his debut in the New Zealand Test, came under the scanner after some tweets which were offensive, racist and sexist in nature. Robinson is suspended from all international cricket pending a probe by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
After Robinson, some other tweets have surfaced of Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler reportedly ‘mocking’ the Indian way of speaking English. One 16-year-old England cricketer is also under the scanner for ‘racist’ tweets.
First, the England and Wales Cricket Board did not do thorough research on the background of players. Robinson has apologized but the ECB did not conduct thorough research on the social media background of the player. Robinson’s case also highlights the case of institutional racism in Yorkshire, a club that has been in the news for not reporting racism.
Second, the amount of maturity that has come into social media at this point in time was absent eight-nine years ago. Seriously, how many people displayed maturity at that time when the medium was just flourishing? Twitter and Facebook were there from 2006 and 2007 respectively. At that time, people were just beginning to get their feel of the medium. The amount of trolling, abuse and hate that has been magnified in the modern era was not there at that point in time.
Had Robinson done this now, he would have not been pardoned. But, eight-nine years ago, no one even knew what the line was in Twitter, Facebook or other mediums. The community standards and other guidelines came into existence in the modern era now, not then.
The BCCI has a clear thing for the players on social media. Do not post anything offensive. Post only good things. No negative things. There is nothing written. It is an unwritten rule. You can see that many players never post on anything that is negative.
What that makes them, though, is different. Sportsmen are expected to be symbols as they can take a stand on anything which is wrong in society. Take the case of the NBA, Naomi Osaka and Lewis Hamilton using social media and raising awareness on Black Lives Matter. In India, when there are disturbances or anything controversial, the Indian players stay silent. They will only appeal for peace.
Their silence is also because the Indian ethos is based on abuse. It is built upon the fundamentals of either ‘My Way’ or ‘The Highway’. The Indian ethos thrives on trolling and misinformation. It is also on convenience. When Yuvraj Singh used a casteist slur against Yuzvendra Chahal, the outrage was not much. Life moved on after one or two days as if nothing happened.
Cricketers are in the crossfire in the modern era. They have to be aware socially of everything that is going on. But, in a public forum like Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, past misdemeanors cannot be hidden. In the hands of the authority that is the public, they will be trapped.
No one in the modern era has enough maturity to take stance and also ensure that they are mature on social media. A controversial opinion will receive trolling. Nowadays, the definition of racist, misogynistic behavior can be clouded under satire and dark humour. How well does the player mask that will be the key? But in Robinson’s case, it was crude and blunt. There is no escape from that.
