PETALING JAYA: Online abuse should not be hidden.
This is the advice given by Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) high performance director Dr Tim Jones.
Jones believed that the shuttlers should not stay silent if they receive threatening or abusive messages via social media.
This comes in the wake of independent men’s singles player Soong Joo Ven’s (pic) revelation that he had received messages threatening him and his family via Instagram after he had lost a match.
Scotland’s women’s singles player Kirsty Gilmour had also been targeted.
“I saw the messages Joo Ven received and it was terrible,” said Jones, who also assured that he and the coaches will support the players regardless of their results.
“Social media can be good but it can also be incredibly bad.
“We need to make sure that there is open communication with the players.
“The players must be open and seek help if they have been targeted. They should not keep it to themselves.
“We have problems nowadays when people don’t share these types of abuse and it becomes a virus inside them.
“We just need to make it very clear with the players that we are here to support them.
“We will stick by them regardless of their results.
“Of course, we will push them to do better but we need to be aware of the dangers posed by social media a lot more now.”
