AFLW legend Tayla Harris has called the AFL and other sporting social media pages out for not being vigilant enough when it comes to monitoring hate comments.
Harris, who has copped her fair share of hate since bursting onto the AFLW scene, took to Twitter on Friday night to call out inappropriate comments on social media.
“How about AFL (plus other) pages start actually blocking people who comment discriminative, racist, homophobic, sexist etc comments,” she tweeted.
How about @AFL (+ other) pages start actually blocking people who comment discriminative, racist, homophobic, sexist etc comments. If you can’t control your urge to bully and harass you don’t deserve the privilege to share your unwarrneted opinion. 1/2
— Tayla Harris (@tayla_harris7) February 21, 2020
She went so far as to pledge her AFLW salary to employ someone to adequately monitor the league’s social media ages to prevent this bullying.
God damn I’ll give up my AFLW wage to employ someone to monitor this, public bullying is a ripple effect to young people in schools and communities that lead to mental health issues and suicide. 2/2
— Tayla Harris (@tayla_harris7) February 21, 2020
She called upon the league to “be the leader in the space” and to “fight back” against the ever-present issue of internet trolls.
@AFL be the leader in this space. Employ someone dedicated to this. Ignoring these comments is not a solution. Fight back.
— Tayla Harris (@tayla_harris7) February 21, 2020
At just 22 years of age, the professional boxer and AFL player has received more than her fair share of bullying and trolling, especially for a photo of her kicking a football, which prompted the “kick like a girl” movement last year.
“It’s a pretty surreal feeling, it’s incredible and it’s more than me just kicking a football, it’s a message, it’s a turning point in Australian society, so it’s something I can be personally proud of,” Tayla Harris said at the statue unveiling ceremony last year.
“This is going to help people, whether it’s in a small way, in a big way and that’s all I and people that have their heads screwed on care about, that it’s giving people a feeling of empowerment.”
In case you’ve forgotten, she actually out-kicked six of her male AFL colleagues in last year’s AFL Grand Final longest kick competition, so its truly heartbreaking that she’s had to face so much backlash when she’s just trying to play her damn sport.
