“Athletes across all sports have been discussing this for a long time, but it hasn’t really changed. Hopefully something can get done soon.”
Asked for his view – as both an ex-player and father-of-four – about what could be done to eradicate toxic abuse, Murray said: “If I’m being honest I don’t know. Me and my wife are trying to keep our children off social media until they are much older, because I think it can be pretty damaging.”
Murray’s eldest child is nine, while his youngest is four. Many social media apps have a minimum age of 13 for users.
Technology firms will have to do more to protect young people from harmful content under the Government’s Online Safety Act. It is being introduced in phases and social media platforms are now obliged to protect users from illegal or harmful content, while more child safety measures are being introduced next month.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC the government will also explore whether further protective measures can be put in place on social media platforms.
Figures provided by data science firm Signify, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) show that in 2024, about 8,000 abusive, violent or threatening messages were sent publicly to 458 tennis players through their social media accounts.
Following Boulter’s comments, fellow tennis players demanded more action, including calls for the introduction of identity verification.
Several of the England women’s football team also plan to give up social media for their forthcoming European Championship defence in Switzerland.
Murray said: “I don’t know whose responsibility it is, I don’t know if the government needs to do more to tackle it, or [X owner] Elon Musk and people like that can do more to stop these messages getting through to individuals.
“I don’t mean just athletes, but then you get into the whole debate around free speech and it’s a difficult one.”
Murray also said athletes could help themselves “by trying to avoid looking at the comments and going on our phones immediately after matches”, but the onus was not on them to solve the problem.
Former British tennis player Naomi Broady, 35, told BBC Radio 5 Live about her experiences of abuse on social media, saying: “I’ve seen the worst of trolling and after I had children, I don’t show their faces any more.”
