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The Rooftop stands in solidarity with anti-racism campaign

It has been almost a year since The Rooftop joined with other charities in calling for a temporary boycott of social media spend in response to a lack of action by platforms in tackling online abuse.

Just a few weeks ago, the Charities Against Hate Coalition published a list of 16 recommendations for social media firms to implement.

These included access to better support for victims of online hate. The group has previously found that the majority of charity staff and beneficiaries have witnessed online hate.

News that Sky Sports is joining sports teams in boycotting social media this weekend, has led us to look at our own position.

On the one hand, providing a daily dose of positive news is more important than ever, to help us #ReclaimSocial from trolls and bigots.

But, solidarity in the face of the continued online abuse and hate speech that we see every day is necessary.

Therefore, from 3pm on Friday 30th April until midnight on Monday 3rd May, our social channels will also go silent.

Social media platforms must meet with campaigners, including those representing charities and social enterprises, and government must take action on the issue of social media hate speech through the online safety bill.

Until then, everyone opposed to social media hate speech must unite when called on to take action.