“To stand in solidarity with the football community, I will be going dark on my social media channels this weekend,” a Hamilton statement online read. “There is no place in our society for any kind of abuse, online or not, and for too long it’s been easy for a small few to post hate from behind their screens.
“While a boycott might not solve this issue overnight, we have to call for change when needed, even when it seems like an impossible task.
“Sport has the power to unite us. Let’s not accept abuse as part of the sport, but instead, let’s be the ones who make a difference for future generations.”
Hamilton, who wore t-shirts featuring protest statements and took a knee before races last season in support of the BLM movement, will be joined in the boycott by Lando Norris and George Russell.
“I thought it was important to do so because there is far too much online abuse, hatred, negativity, racism, that is just undeserved, and I feel like it’s our duty to raise as much awareness as possible,” Russell said.
“Everyone struggles with abuse on here at some point and social media companies need to do more to tackle it,” read a statement online from Norris. “Hiding behind a keyboard is not okay. Enough is enough.”