England’s Jess Carter runs in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 final between England and Spain.
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Lionesses and Gotham Football Club defender Jess Carter said social media companies can do more to police hate online comments after facing racial abuse in the 2025 European Euro Championship.
Carter, a defender of the American football team Gotham FC, is part of the England women’s national team nicknamed “The Lioness”, and has won a historic victory in the 2025 European Championships in 2025 after defeating the Spanish champion in Switzerland in July.
Carter had to bring one Step back from social media She shared how to deal with online attacks while facing severe racial abuse during the game and in an interview with CNBC’s Tania Bryer.
“I’m not a person who usually takes myself out of social media because I’m used to critics and some of the abuse we’re as athletes and in the public eye,” Carter told Blair.
She added: “So this time, I think the way I handled it was just to get myself completely off social media so that I couldn’t see anything that was said and I could only focus on what was said in my camp.”
England Women’s Team to Support Carter After the abuse, it was decided not to take the knee before the 2025 Euro 2025 match – an anti-racist gesture and said “It’s obvious that we and football need to find another solution to racism”.
Carter said online abuse could be ignored, and if it happens on the street, it would be considered a hate crime.
“I think social media companies need to better protect people in the eyes of the public. I think the abuse we are suffering, not even me, but everyone in the eyes of the public, and that’s not what it can do,” she said.
“Social media platforms can better understand people who are sharing abuse and prosecute them in the way they should, if that’s on the street.”
She praised the tech giant Yuan To monitor her social media and block hate information as soon as possible, but said it needs to be addressed more effectively. “There’s more to be done at the beginning to prevent this from happening.”
Talk early
Carter advises those who deal with abuse on social media to rely on family and friends and speak out.
“Part of me wish I had talked about it earlier. It started with the French game because after I talked about it, I might not realize that I really needed support. I thought ‘I just handled this myself.
“And then after talking about it, I got the support of my team and my family, and my friends really helped me with that,” Carter told Blair. “I didn’t realize at the time that I needed support and talking about it helped keep me through it, not to feel so isolated.”
Carter said the support and motivation of the fans helped get her to the rest of the game.
In terms of inclusion in sports, Carter notes that she believes in equal access to opportunities and is not very familiar with the growth of women’s football.
She added: “I actually know nothing about women’s football. I don’t know that until I joined Birmingham at the age of 16, I wouldn’t be a professional footballer, so I think no matter where you come from, I want to make it easier for everyone to get it.”
