Premier League Footballers Team Up with The Cybersmile Foundation to Highlight the Real-Life Consequences of Online Abuse on Stop Cyberbullying Day

LONDON, UK, June 17, 2022 - Footballers Jordan Henderson, Declan Rice, Harry Maguire, Kasper Schmeichel, Ben Mee and Jermaine Jenas have joined together with leading online abuse charity, The Cybersmile Foundation and creative agency Ten Toes to highlight the real-world implications of online abuse.

The campaign will see the individual footballers share an ʻedited selfieʼ on their social media channels alongside a call to action to stop online abuse. The altered selfie depicts the individual with physical injuries overlaid, illustrating the real life consequences of words shared online. As well as highlighting this message, the campaign aims to raise awareness about the importance of making the internet a safer place and to show that itʼs everyoneʼs responsibility to do this.

The campaign marks the first anniversary of the partnership between Ten Toes and Cybersmile, which was launched on Stop Cyberbullying Day 2021.

Speaking about the initiative, Scott Freeman, CEO for The Cybersmile Foundation, said: “Everybody at Cybersmile is excited to be working alongside Ten Toes and such high-profile players to deliver the very important message carried by this campaign. It is too easy to forget that words communicated online can have the same impact as words communicated offline”.

Josh Hershman, Managing Director at Ten Toes said: “Itʼs a real pleasure to work alongside Cybersmile on this campaign, which sees household names in football come together and call out online abuse and underline the way it can affect people away from the internet. This is an issue which can affect all of us and itʼs one that has huge consequences in the real-world, so weʼre very proud to work with Cybersmile and these players to highlight this.”

Stop Cyberbullying Day takes place Friday 17 June 2022.

About The Cybersmile Foundation

The Cybersmile Foundation is a multi-award-winning nonprofit organization committed to digital wellbeing and tackling all forms of bullying and abuse online. We work to promote kindness, diversity and inclusion by building a safer, more positive digital community. Through education, research, awareness campaigns and the promotion of positive digital citizenship we reduce incidents of cyberbullying and through our professional help and support services we empower those affected and their families to regain control of their lives.

Contact

Press Officer
pressoffice@cybersmile.org
https://www.cybersmile.org

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