Racism in football: Twitter defends abuse policy after Premier League players targeted

Paul Pogba received racist abuse online after missing a penalty against Wolves

Social media platform Twitter says it has “taken action” on “more than 700 examples of hateful conduct” in the last two weeks after several Premier League players were racially abused.

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba and Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham are among those who have been targeted.

The online service says it will “continue to take swift action”.

It has also met clubs and other football bodies in an attempt to “tackle the issue collectively”.

“This vile content has no place on our service,” it said in a statement. “We want to play our part in curbing this unacceptable behaviour.”

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard have been among those asking for social media companies to do more to curb racist behaviour on their platforms.

Pogba, Abraham and United forward Marcus Rashford were all abused after missing penalties for their clubs.

Twitter said: “In the past two weeks, we have taken action on more than 700 examples of abuse and hateful conduct related to UK football.

“We will continue to take swift action on the minority that try to undermine the conversation for the majority. In that same time, we have met with the Professional Footballers’ Association, Kick It Out and directly affected football clubs, and agreed a number of proactive measures to tackle this issue collectively.

“Working with the PFA, we will participate in their player training programme, and will be joining a series of educational sessions with its membership to support the PFA’s ambition to tackle the issue.

“Working with Kick It Out, we will continue our working relationship with UK policing to further brief them and provide training on our policies, procedures and dedicated 24/7 reporting channels for law enforcement.

“To be clear, this behaviour does not reflect the vast majority of fans who use Twitter to participate in vibrant conversations around football in the UK. We have spent years forging strong partnerships with clubs, organisations and supporters and deeply value the relationships.”

source: bbc.com