Rovers will join all EFL and Premier League clubs in a social media boycott next week.

It comes in response ‘to the ongoing and sustained discriminatory abuse received online by players and many others connected to football’.

The boycott will run from 3pm on Friday, April 30 to 11:59pm on Monday, May 3, covering a whole weekend of fixtures.

The FA, Premier League, EFL, FA Women’s Super League, FA Women’s Championship, PFA, LMA, PGMOL, Kick It Out and the FSA will all unite as part of the action in response to online abuse.

The boycott is looking to emphasise the need for social media companies to ‘eradicate online hate, while highlighting the importance of educating people in the ongoing fight against discrimination’.

It will coincide with a whole weekend of fixtures, with updates to be stopped on club Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

That will mean there are no social media posts from the club regarding next weekend’s Championship fixture at Rotherham United, or the Under-23s’ trip to Chelsea on Friday night.

Lancashire Telegraph:

An EFL statement read: “Boycott action from football in isolation will, of course, not eradicate the scourge of online discriminatory abuse, but it will demonstrate that the game is willing to take voluntary and proactive steps in this continued fight. 

While football takes a stand, we urge the UK Government to ensure its Online Safety Bill will bring in strong legislation to make social media companies more accountable for what happens on their platforms, as discussed at the DCMS Online Abuse roundtable earlier this week.”