WEST Midlands Victims Commissioner Nicky Brennan will be joining the EE Hope United Squad, which has been set up to help lobby for change and better protection for women and girls online.
The team, which includes England manager Gareth Southgate and Lioness star Lucy Bronze, will be calling for new stringent policies to be introduced as part of the proposed Online Safety Bill.
More than 60 sports stars, presenters and journalists across the UK have signed EEs open letter to policymakers, which calls for the changes to be made as soon as possible.
The proposed bill aims to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online and aims to tackle instances where people send sexist hate to women and girls.
The open letter calls for legislators to pass the full bill, with added provisions that violence against women and girls be named as ‘priority harm’, alongside terrorism and child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Pundit Rio Ferdinand and Manchester United star Marcus Rashford have also signed the open letter.
The EE Hope United Squad also want social media platforms to take increased action to reduce abusive content and upholding terms of service.
West Midlands Victims’ Commissioner Nicky Brennan said: “I regularly see for myself examples of the horrific misogynistic abuse women are subjected to online.
“By publicly backing EE’s Hope United squad I was personally subjected to a barrage of abuse from men and women.
“It is fantastic that EE is taking this matter so seriously and I was delighted to be invited to join the Hope United squad.”
EE chief executive Marc Allera added: “We have a responsibility to encourage change within the Government and social media publishers, and ensure that victims of online abuse are protected from harm.”
