By George Stephens • Published: 20 Sep 2019 • 17:51
Officials from the EPL, the FA and the EFL met Twitter executives today to discuss how to tackle the abuse that has become commonplace from keyboard warriors often relating to racist abuse.
The issue has come to a head in recent weeks with a large amount of high-profile footballers receiving abuse.
Manchester United’s under performing Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford were both subject to racist comments on Twitter following missing from the penalty spot, as was Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham, while Reading’s Yakou Meite hit back at a hateful message on Instagram.
Several leading players have called for action to be taken by Twitter and Facebook The players represented by the PFA demand Twitter and Facebook face up to the “insidious problem”.
The FA today after the meetings made a statement to say “talks have begun and constructive talks would continue between parties.
The full statement issued by the EPL said “The FA, Premier League and EFL today met Twitter with respect to the ongoing concerns surrounding discriminatory and hateful conduct taking place on the platform,” the FA’s statement read.
“The meeting was productive and positive, and gave both the football authorities and Twitter an opportunity to examine some of the specific issues around this unacceptable behaviour both online and offline.
“All parties agreed to take these constructive discussions forward.”
The EPL issued a full statement as follows.
“The FA, Premier League and EFL today met Twitter with respect to the ongoing concerns surrounding discriminatory and hateful conduct taking place on the platform The meeting was productive and positive, and gave both the football authorities and Twitter an opportunity to examine some of the specific issues around this unacceptable behaviour both online and offline.
All parties agreed to take these constructive discussions forward.”
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