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| doctored picture of Howard webb posted by Ryan Babel |
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| Original picture of Howard Webb |
Background: In the FA cup on 9 January, Manchester united hosted Liverpool as both team were trying to get through the semi-final. Just few seconds after the game took off, Manchester united striker Dimitar Berbatov was slightly pushed by Liverpool’s defender and fell down in the box. Despite the fact that Liverpool players argued Berbatov was diving, the match referee Howard Webb awarded Manchester United a penalty, and it was successfully converted to a goal. Manchester United won the game 1-0.
Liverpool Winger Ryan Babel, who was brought on as a substitute in the match, updated his Twitter right after the game, and posted a mocked-up picture of referee Howard Webb in a Manchester United shirt, which implied Howard Webb purposely favored Manchester United won the game.
Soon after, the British Football Association charged Ryan Babel for "improper Twitter conduct" and fined him £10,000.
Personally, I do not think the fine was given appropriately as there are no written rules of what the proper conducts on the social networks really are. I know many companies have their own policies on social networks in order to force employees conduct properly in order to prevent any possible improper conducts on social networks from employees.
Well, is it necessary to have laws or policies for us all as well? I mean, the internet and the technologies change rapidly, so it’s just the matter of time that more new social networks come out and dominate the world. Thus, how to behave on the social networks will be equally important as how to behave in the real world in the near future. The term “improper conduct” seems too vague, because people could have different understandings of “improper conduct” based on their own personal experiences. Therefore, I believe it would be beneficial to put all of us under the same standard so that people will not use social networks abruptly in the future.
I think that any organization that you belong too should set out rules regarding mentioning anything/anyone that has to do with the organization. In this case, though it sounds silly; these soccer stars are a big influence on there fans/younger kids. They areplaying at a professional level and should maintian their own perfesonality regarding a situation that they feel was unfair.
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