The TOHIF Podcast

Having looked at the variety of ways in which online hate infects football discourse, we now turn our attention to what is being - and what should be - done about the issue. Jonathan Sebire of Signify speaks to Colm  Kearns about how Signify’s Threat Matrix service is working to mitigate abuse against players, staff and referees. Jonathan is then joined by his colleague, Jonathan Hirschler, Signify’s chief executive, and TOHIF’s Professor Theo Lynn for a wider discussion on the potential and limitations when it comes to technological solutions to this problem.

Sportswashing is one of the most talked about issues in modern football, but its relationship to online hate is often overlooked. Sportswashing is talked about in terms of the geo-political strategy of nefarious power brokers and not in terms of social media users attacking journalists that accuse 'their club' of sportswashing. On this episode of The TOHIF Podcast, Dr Gary Sinclair outlines the roots of sportswashing and how it has been transformed in the online era. Gary is then joined by Dr Jack Black for a discussion on what makes football so susceptible to sportswashing and what can be done to resist it.

In this episode we look at how the problem of online hate intersects with the issue of conspiracy theories and disinformation. The issue is often looked in terms of spontaneous instances of abuse triggered by football events, 'heat of the moment' insults and threats, but research has shown that malign political forces have stoked the fires of hate in football through strategic spreading of harmful conspiracy theories.  Ciarán O’Connor, Senior Analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) outlines the nature of such conspiracies and how they are spread. Ciarán is then joined by CarrieLynn Reinhard, Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Dominican University, and TOHIF's Dr Jack Black to discuss what makes sport such a notable breeding ground for such theories and how their spread can be fought.

In this episode we look at how the problem of online hate in football impacts on fans. When the problem is discussed by politicians, researchers or journalists, fans tend to characterised solely as perpetrators of online hate, but this overlooks the rich variety of fan experience online: they can be targets of hate and activists in the fight against it. Content creator and Spurs fan, Davina Pindoria talks about her experiences - both good and bad - of being a football fan who's active online. Davina is then joined by Loughborough University's Dr Mark Doidge for a general discussion on why online hate against fans has been overlooked by authorities, and what fans can offer in the battle against this problem. 

In this episode we look at how the problem of online hate in football affects journalists. While attacks on players tend to garner the most attention from media, academia and authorities, online abuse of football journalists is a growing concern. Freelance journalist Júlia Belas Trindade talks to us about her experiences covering football online and the backlash she has encountered. Julia is then joined by Leeds Beckett University's Dr Daniel Kilvington and Ulster University's Dr Katie Liston for a general discussion on the significance of online hate against football journalists. Katie and Dan draw from extensive interviews with over twenty journalists about their experiences. This episode provides listeners with illustration of what provokes fans into online attacks against journalists and what the longer term significance of these attacks could be for football.

In this episode we look at how the problem of online hate in football affects players. Emotional Welfare Specialist, Sue Parris talks us through her experiences in helping players cope with this issue. Sue is then joined by Leeds Beckett University academics, Dr Daniel Kilvington and Professor Thomas Fletcher for a wider discussion on the attitudes of clubs and players to the problem. Dan and Tom draw from extensive interviews with academy, senior and retired players across England. This episode provides listeners with an insight into the mental and emotional impacts experienced by players and the support (or lack thereof) they receive from their clubs and coaches.

We look at how the problem of online hate in football has been studied and analysed so far. Professor Theo Lynn of Dublin City University talks us through the challenges and opportunities involved in the cutting edge data analysis of a decade and a half of football-related online hate on Twitter. Than Dr Gary Sinclair, also of DCU, discusses what's been learned so far in the existing academic research into the problem, and what needs to be researched in the future. This first episode provides a grounding on what we know about online hate in football, before tackling who it targets and what issues it intersects with in later episodes.

About the series