Sir Andy Murray says he is trying to keep his children away from “damaging” social media platforms as he backed calls for more action to prevent abuse of sports stars.
His appeal comes after British tennis player Katie Boulter spoke to BBC Sport about the scale of unsavoury and hurtful comments she has received online, including death threats.
Three-time Grand Slam winner Murray, who retired from professional tennis in August 2024, said the prevalence of social media abuse “hasn’t really changed”, despite athletes speaking out on the subject for many years.
The 2013 and 2016 Wimbledon champion added that by the end of his career, he paid no attention to the “hostility” he received online, but he found it “difficult” when starting out as a professional.
“I think it’s positive any time anyone can speak out about it. It’s great that [Katie] talked about it,” Murray, 38, told BBC Sport.
“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. My wife and I 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 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.”
‘Not planning on attending Wimbledon’
Murray spoke out as he took part in an event with schoolchildren in Surrey to mark the completion of the LTA’s Park Tennis Project. Following more than £45m of investment from the government and LTA Tennis Foundation, it has led to the refurbishment of courts across 1,000 parks in England, Scotland and Wales, with more than 50% in areas of higher social deprivation.
“In my local area when I was growing up, a lot of the courts were derelict, with the nets broken and weeds growing out of the court, and it’s a shame,” said Dunblane-raised Murray.
“It’s great the LTA has invested a huge amount of money and refurbished over 3,000 courts up and down the country. It gives more kids a chance to play tennis but in nice surroundings as well.”
He hoped a similar project focusing on covered courts will be “the next step” to keep children playing tennis during winter.
With Wimbledon starting on Monday, Murray backed British number one Jack Draper to handle the pressure of being the fourth seed at the tournament.
“He has obviously shot up the rankings and had some amazing wins,” said the Scot.
“It will obviously be a little bit different this year coming in as a top seed but he’ll deal with it well. He’s played in difficult environments and under pressure before, and I’m sure he’ll cope with it well.”
Murray, who began the year as coach to Novak Djokovic before that partnership dissolved in May, has no plans to attend Wimbledon this year, but that might change based on results.
“I’m not missing [tennis] yet. Maybe when Wimbledon starts I might feel differently,” he said.
“I have got no plans to go. Maybe if there was a British player in the final or something I might go along to watch, but I’m not planning on going.”
It was confirmed this week that the All England Club intends to have a statue of Murray in place at the Grand Slam tournament’s grounds by 2027.
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