Murray wants to shield kids from ‘damaging’ social media

Sir Andy Murray says he is attempting to prevent “damaging” social media platforms from being used against his kids as he supports calls for more action to stop abuse of sports stars.

Katie Boulter, a British tennis player, spoke to BBC Sport about the volume of offensive and hurtful online posts, including death threats, that he had received.

Despite athletes speaking out against social media abuse for a long time, three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, who retired from tennis in August 2024, said the prevalence of abuse “hasn’t really changed.”

The 2013 and 2016 Wimbledon champion added that while beginning out as a professional, he found it difficult to deal with the “hostility” he experienced at the end of his career.

“This hasn’t really changed, but athletes from all sports have been discussing it for a long time. Hopefully, soon something will be accomplished.

As a former professional football player and father-of-four, Murray was asked what he thought could be done to end toxic abuse. “If I’m being honest, I don’t know. I believe it can be very harmful for my wife and I to prevent our children from using social media until they are older.

His youngest child, aged 4, is younger than Murray’s, whose oldest child is nine. The user must be at least 13 to use many social media apps.

Under the Government’s Online Safety Act, technology companies will have to do more to protect young people from harmful content. Social media platforms are now required to shield users from illegal or harmful content, and more child safety measures will be implemented starting in September.

The government will also look into whether additional security measures can be implemented on social media platforms, according to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who quoted the BBC.

According to data science firm Signify, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), about 8, 000 abusive, violent, or threatening messages were made available to 458 tennis players on their social media accounts in 2024.

Other tennis players pressed for more action, including calls for the introduction of identity verification, after Boulter’s comments were made.

For their upcoming European Championship defense in Switzerland, several members of the England women’s football team intend to abandon social media.

Murray remarked, “I don’t know who it is, whether the government needs to do more to address it, or whether]X owner] Elon Musk and other people can do more to stop these messages from reaching people.

You get into the entire debate about free speech, which is a difficult one, but I don’t just mean athletes.

The athletes were not responsible for the issue, Murray said, but they could help themselves by “trying to avoid looking at the comments and going on our phones right away after matches.”

Murray made a statement while participating in a Surrey school event to celebrate the completion of the LTA’s Park Tennis Project. More than 50% of the courts have been renovated in areas of higher social deprivation, with more than £45 million coming from the government and the LTA Tennis Foundation.

When I was younger, many of the courts were abandoned, with the nets ejected, and it’s unfortunate, said Murray, who was raised in the area.

The LTA has invested a lot of money and renovated over 3, 000 courts across the nation, which is fantastic. More children get to play tennis in both nice surroundings and.

He anticipated that a project like this one that concentrates on covered courts would be the “next step” in the winter to keep kids playing tennis.

Murray backed British number one Jack Draper to put pressure on himself as the tournament’s fourth seed as Wimbledon draws near on Monday.

The Scot stated, “He has obviously shot up the rankings and had some amazing wins.

Coming in as the top seed this year, he’ll obviously be a little different, but he’ll handle it well. He’s previously played in challenging situations and under great pressure, and I’m confident he’ll do well.

No plans to attend Wimbledon this year, but Murray, who served as Novak Djokovic’s coach before that partnership disbanded in May, might change.

I’m not missing Tennis [just yet]… I might feel differently when Wimbledon begins, he said.

I don’t intend to leave. If a British player were playing in the final, I might watch it instead, but I don’t intend to.