Premier League football clubs now "regularly vet the social media activity of prospective players for evidence of bigotry, hate speech and other illegal and offensive behaviour, following a spate of scandals," according to David Batty of the London GUARDIAN. Kroll, a private investigation and cybersecurity firm, has "trawled the social media accounts of potential signings for several Premier and Champions League clubs, checking their posts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms against a list of more than 1,000 problematic words." Kroll Managing Dir Ben Hamilton said that the list included "racist terms; references to extremist beliefs and groups -- such as suicide bombers and the National Front; indications of drug and alcohol misuse; comments about inappropriate sexual activity; and any indications of criminality." The revelation comes after former Sunderland and England player Adam Johnson "was jailed for six years for grooming and sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl." Hamilton: "We're looking for any sign of instability. Anything that could damage the reputation of a club, whether that's extreme promiscuity, or religious or extremist beliefs." The list includes "drugs and terms for drug use, words suggesting intolerance towards lesbian and gay people, words describing criminal offences, as well as terms more obviously suspect in a public discussion, such as prostitute and rent boy." Hamilton said that they were working with a growing number of clubs after a "spate of social media incidents involving Premier League players." The FA has imposed more than £350,000 ($497,070) in fines on players and officials since '11 "for offences including racist and sexist comments" (GUARDIAN, 4/16).
