{"id":662326,"date":"2025-12-30T11:08:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T11:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/662326\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T11:08:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T11:08:13","slug":"martin-compston-took-conscious-step-away-from-sharing-political-views-after-online-hate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/662326\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Compston took ‘conscious’ step away from sharing political views after online hate"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Greenock-born actor and former footballer said he still supports the same teams and believes in the same things, but is now quieter about it after online backlash.\"MartinMartin Compston(Image: Andrew Milligan\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n

Martin Compston has made a \u201cconscious decision\u201d to step back from expressing his opinions on football and politics due to hate on social media<\/a>. The Greenock-born actor and former footballer said he still supports the same teams and believes in the same things, but is now quieter about it after online backlash.<\/p>\n

Compston <\/a>said social media is like \u201cshouting into a void\u201d, as he addressed his changing views on speaking out. He also said the Scottish independence movement needs him less now than it did in the past as “it\u2019s the people\u2019s movement\u201d.<\/p>\n

The star has been a vocal Yes supporter since the 2014 referendum and said he will back John Swinney\u2019s SNP at the Scottish Parliament election in May.<\/p>\n

But the Celtic <\/a>fan said while he is still as engaged as ever in independence for Scotland, he has gone off publicly supporting it amid the level of anger expressed on social media platforms.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI think what\u2019s got less is I don\u2019t have any time for the social media aspect of it anymore, which why people think I am less engaged.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut with social media, you\u2019re just shouting into a void now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a real debate or conversation on it, it\u2019s just people screaming each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still believe in the same things. I\u2019ll still be voting the same way. I\u2019ll still be backing John and the SNP <\/a>next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sweet Sixteen star said he feels the independence movement has come \u201cso far\u201d it does not need him, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s a people\u2019s movement now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I need to be at the forefront, whether it be on social media or in interviews and stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019ve come far enough now that it\u2019s just an open debate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether I think it\u2019s probably just above 50% that want independence or if you\u2019re the other side, you believe it\u2019s just below.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut either way we are in the conversation \u2013 and it\u2019s not going away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actor, who is promoting the new Paramount+ thriller series The Revenge Club, said \u201cpeople are too angry right now\u201d.<\/p>\n

He told PA: \u201cIf you believe in the union, you believe that\u2019s right for Scotland, that\u2019s your right.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s as much your country as mine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you can waste energy arguing with people \u2013 it\u2019s not even people, it\u2019s bots, or whatever it is \u2013 you\u2019re taking energy away from, whether it be giving that to your family, and it can darken your day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve just made a conscious decision, whether it be football or politics or everything, just to back away from all of it a bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still support the same teams, still want the same things, but yeah I think I can go about it in a lot quieter manner now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Greenock-born actor and former footballer said he still supports the same teams and believes in the same…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,918,4884,54221,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-662326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-glasgow","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-martin-compston","12":"tag-scotland","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115808207054930732","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}