Eni Aluko says social media companies are rewarding hate speech and encouraging people like Joey Barton to post “extreme” content.
Barton was convicted on Friday of sending “grossly offensive” social media posts to former Lionesses star Aluko and fellow broadcasters Lucy Ward and Jeremy Vine.
Prosecutors told Liverpool Crown Court the ex-Man City and Newcastle footballer “had crossed the line between free speech and a crime”.
Joey Barton was convicted on six counts of sending grossly offensive social media posts
Barton, who has 2.7m followers on X, said football pundit Aluko was only on TV coverage “to tick boxes” after the “George Floyd nonsense” in posts on the social media platform.
Aluko told Sky Sports News she felt “10 times lighter” after seeing Barton found guilty on six counts and cleared on six others last Friday, but says oversight is required to stamp out hateful content on social media.
“Social media companies like X aren’t listening,” the former Chelsea player said. “They’re not going to protect the people on the platforms.
“They actually reward hate speech, which is why somebody like Joey Barton thinks, ‘to promote my podcast, I’m going to say extreme things’.
“It’s the reward system, it’s become a business. So the counter to that, in my view, should be Ofcom fining these social media companies if we consistently keep seeing racism, sexism, hate speech on their platforms.
“We need more accountability for the social media platforms.”
Sky Sports News has approached X for comment.
‘Barton must suffer consequences’
Aluko says “it’s been a really difficult two years” and come at a “huge emotional cost to me and my family” but hopes the outcome of Barton’s trial will make people think twice before repeating what he posts.
Barton was convicted for his post about Aluko criticising diversity and inclusion schemes, but was found not guilty for likening her and Ward to the “Fred and Rose West of football commentary”.
Jurors did, however, rule that his superimposing of Ward and Aluko’s faces on a photograph of the serial killer couple was grossly offensive.
Lucy Ward was also the subject of hateful posts from Barton on social media
“One of the problems with social media is that the amplification of people like Joey Barton [makes] people think they can say the same,” she added.
“But, I’m glad that we have a criminal consequence, and I think people should really take note of what that looks like, so that you regulate your own conduct online and make sure that you’re not crossing the line.
“There’s an element for him where he has to feel a sense of deep regret. It’s cost him a lot of money, and, I don’t think it’s in any way, shape or form enhanced his reputation.
“If he ever wanted to work in football, I’m not sure that’s ever going to happen, given just his conduct towards other people in the game.
“He’s got to suffer the consequences of his conduct, and hopefully there’s a bit of self-reflection. I’m a believer in rehabilitation, and somebody reflecting and doing the work to improve as people, so that will be down to him.”
‘Intelligent Barton knows what he’s doing’
Aluko does not believe Barton cared about the impact his posts had on her and has asked others to consider the mental toll online abuse can have on people.
“Joey Barton is an intelligent man. I think he knows what he’s doing,” said Aluko.
“Four years before these awful posts, he was congratulating me on my career and saying lovely things, and it was all career-based as well, congratulating me when I went to Juventus, congratulating me when I got the job at Aston Villa as a sporting director.
“So there’s a calculation to what he did in relation to me that is really malicious and disappointing.
“But I hope that person who sent me all those lovely messages, I hope he gets back to whoever that person was.”
She added: “I would say that you really need to take into account the impact it has on somebody’s mental health. There’s been really tragic examples of what social media abuse can do to somebody. We’ve seen people take their life, we’ve seen people become severely depressed.
“It’s not just hurty words, if you are consistently harassing somebody or inciting violence and saying that you should be shot, there are consequences to that in the UK.”
