Williams tackles fake news and cyberbullying as FIFA marks International Day against hate speech

The viral fake news quotes purported to be from Williams were based on comments about the lack of support by fellow Africans for Bafana Bafana. FIFA also held an event yesterday in Atlanta to mark this day for countering hate speech. Bafana have been through a lot, and Williams addressed this yesterday.

"You know how difficult it is now, you know, on social media, you know, everyone is attacking you and sometimes it's false information, you know, if you lose a game and you don't perform, you know, you can take it as players, you can put your hand up, but when there's false information that goes around, you know, then it hurts, you know," said Williams

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"I've been a target over the last few days about things that I haven't said.  I didn't speak anything about Africa and people supporting Mexico. I can remember, I've always said that, you know, as Africa, we are one, we support each other, you know, in good and bad moments, we've all got our own politics, we've got our own problems, our own fights that we deal with, you know, back home, you know, every country does, you know."

"So, I mean, I don't know where it stemmed from and it does hurt, you know, because like I've mentioned, I've been attacked, obviously my country as well, for things that are going on back home and, you know, I've always said, you know, players are human beings as well."

Since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the FIFA social media protection service has removed over 30 million abusive posts and comments. Williams also left a powerful message for African teams and their fans in this tournament.

Following their 2-0 loss to Mexico in the opening game of the FIFA 2026 World Cup, Bafana Bafana were heavily criticised, even by some people very close to the team in the game. Williams says something of the criticism, if not justified at all.

Coming into today’s crunch second Group A game against Czechia, Williams knows that only a win will get the nation back home happy and fully behind the team again. He knows that they have to dig deep for this game, as he also reveals how they deal with cyberbullying as players and the team.