Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Football legend turned technology investor and social activist, Thierry Henry has called on the world’s leading social media platforms and digital ecosystem providers to harness their own technologies to safeguard an inclusive and level playing field on social media.

Speaking on the Main Stage on the third day of LEAP23 – the world’s most visionary technology event, which runs at Riyadh Front Exhibition & Conference Centre until Thursday 9 February – Henry confronted the imbalance between how social media companies tackle issues of copyright in comparison to racism.

“A lot of the social media platforms create money through hate,” said Henry, who helped launch the Stand Up Speak Up anti-racism campaign in 2005. “If they know they can get sued by an artist or organisation, they create the algorithm they need to create. When they are not held accountable, they don’t create an algorithm because ultimately people are using the platform anyway.

“I came off social media in 2021 because I didn’t think it was a safe place. I thought maybe if I came off, it would prompt people to ask me questions and start that conversation. It worked for a little while, but people are still suffering and nothing has changed.”

When asked what he would do to make the online world safer, Henry responded: “I would like to know: Can we identify the offenders? Can they be punished? And can we create algorithms that block abuse and racism? I would also remind people that vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness. It took me 40 years to talk about my emotions because I thought I would be seen as soft for being hurt. So talk to people, open up – or things will not end well.”

Henry, who remains involved in football, has evolved into a progressive technology investor since retiring as a player in 2014. Having been exposed to racism on the pitch and online, Henry was part of a team that in 2021 launched Game of Our Lives (GOL) – a gamified impact platform where social activists champion a wide variety of causes joined by their fans.

“GOL is a platform that provides a safe place to talk to people,” added the Frenchman, who played for AS Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal, Barcelona, and New York Red Bulls in a trophy-laden two-decade career. “My focus is hate speech and we have 2,000 volunteers in the UK. Is that great? Maybe not, but it’s a start. The overall goal of the GOL community – and all these important causes being championed – is to reach more than a billion people around the world. If they can give one per cent of their time to people and the planet by 2030, we can make a major impact.”

For more information, please visit https://www.onegiantleap.com

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About LEAP:

Saudi Arabia is putting itself at the forefront of emerging tech through large-scale adoption and ambitious pilot projects. Its ambition will be showcased on a global stage and the Kingdom will become a hub that connects three continents. LEAP is a manifestation of this ambition. A seismic event that accelerates the adoption of technology and transforms Saudi Arabia’s economy. Together with LEAP, the Kingdom will see mass tech adoption, a shift away from oil as the principal strategic economic resource, and instead become a regional hub for both traditional and emerging technology.

Saudi Arabia has an endless ambition to shoot for something beyond that thought possible, to achieve a significant impact from game-changing tech and globally disruptive projects and to always keep one eye on the stars.

About Tahaluf:

Headquartered in Riyadh, Tahaluf brings together strategically important commercial communities from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the wider Gulf region and from around the world at a portfolio of world class exhibitions and digital platforms.

Tahaluf is a joint venture partnership between the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP) and Informa PLC, the world’s largest tradeshow organiser.

Through 2023 and 2024 Tahaluf will build on its award-winning events LEAP (www.onegiantleap.com) and Black Hat Middle East (www.blackhatmea.com) to launch new, large scale business-to-business events. 

New Tahaluf events include the Artificial Intelligence event DeepFest (www.deepfest.com) 6-9 February 2023; food and hospitality show, Feast (www.Onegiantfeast.com) 24-26 October 2023; beauty industry festival Cosmoprof Middle East; international real estate show Cityscape Global (www.cityscapeglobal.com) 10-13 September 2023 and the Middle East edition of the leading pharma brand, CPHI Middle East (www.cphi.com) 15-17 January 2024.

For more information about Tahaluf, visit https://tahaluf.com.