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      Facebook and Twitter FINALLY hand over details of racist trolls who abused England’s Euro 2020 stars with five arrested

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      FACEBOOK, Instagram and Twitter have finally handed over the details of racist trolls who abused England’s Euro 2020 stars.Five people have been arrested after heroes Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho were targeted following England’s heartbreaking defeat.
      Social media giants have finally handed over the details of racist trolls after horrific abuse was levelled at Lions heroesCredit: Getty
      Social media giants had faced mounting pressure to give up the thugs posting abuse – after bosses were hauled before Boris Johnson for a dressing-down earlier this week.
      Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs’ Council football policing lead, said the companies are now “working very closely” with the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) to track down the vile trolls.
      It comes as:

      Mr Roberts said: “The racial abuse aimed at our own players following Sunday night’s game is utterly vile and has quite rightly shocked and appalled people across the country.
      “Our England team have been true role models during the tournament, conducting themselves with professionalism and dignity.
      “I’m disgusted there are individuals out there who think it’s acceptable to direct such abhorrent abuse at them, or at anybody else.
      “The UKFPU investigation is well under way and work continues to identify those responsible.
      “We are working very closely with social media platforms, who are providing data we need to progress inquiries.
      “If we identify that you are behind this crime, we will track you down and you will face the serious consequences of your shameful actions.”
      A 42-year-old man from Runcorn is the fifth person to have been questioned, Cheshire Police confirmed on Thursday.
      The man was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of displaying threatening, abusive or insulting written material. He has since been released under investigation pending further inquires.
      Saka in a statement on Thursday: “To the social media platforms Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, I don’t want any child or adult to have to receive the hateful and hurtful messages that me, Marcus and Jadon have received this week.
      “I knew instantly the kind of hate that I was about to receive and that is a sad reality that your powerful platforms are not doing enough to stop these messages.”
      Meanwhile, school meals hero Rashford said: “I can take critique of my performance all day long, my penalty wasn’t good enough, it should have gone in.
      “But I will never apologise for who I am and where I came from.”
      The UKFPU said that, as of Tuesday, 897 football-related incidents and 264 arrests had been recorded across the country in the 24-hour period surrounding the final.
      That took the number of football-related incidents during the tournament to 2,344, and arrests to 630.
      Asked about measures to tackle the issue following a speech in Coventry, the Prime Minister acknowledged the Government had “got to go further” than simply extending the scope of football banning orders to include online abuse.
      Banning orders exclude people from attending matches for between three and 10 years.
      One comedian has seen a string of shows cancelled after tweeting: “I’m sorry that black guys are bad at penalties.”
      And a Savills worker has been arrested racist abuse was sent from his Twitter account.
      A post from Andrew Bone’s Twitter account branded the players the N-word and claimed the England stars had “ruined it for us” after the loss.

      Bone’s family claimed to The Sun his account had been hacked.
      Children’s football coach Nick Scott, 50, initially said he had nothing to do with a vile tweet sent to Rashford.
      He later admitted he may have sent it while drunk – and told The Sun: “If I did, I want Marcus to know that I’m truly sorry and I apologise sincerely.”
      Sancho, Saka and Rashford were targeted with disgusting abuse after England’s heartbreaking Euro 2020 defeatCredit: Getty
      The heroes were devastated after bravely stepping up to take penalties in the game against ItalyCredit: Getty
      One of the alleged racists, Nick Scott, initially said he’d been hacked – but now admits he might have said something vile when he was drunkCredit: @scottywwfc/Twitter
      Jadon Sancho saddened by racial abuse but says ‘hate will never win’ as England star writes powerful Instagram message More

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      Facebook promise ‘new tools’ to combat vile abuse as Raheem Sterling targeted on Instagram after Man City win over PSG

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      FACEBOOK has promised ‘new tools’ to combat vile online abuse after Raheem Sterling became the latest footballer to be targeted by sick trolls on social media.The Manchester City star, 26, was the victim of vile comments shortly after helping his side reach the Champions League final at Paris Saint-Germain’s expense on Tuesday night.
      Facebook have vowed to roll out ‘new tools’ to combat social media abuse after Raheem Sterling was trolled on Instagram earlier this weekCredit: PA
      The revolting abuse on Instagram came less than 48 hours after English football’s social media boycott ended.
      And now Facebook – who own Instagram – have vowed they are ‘committed’ to ending online abuse and have even promised ‘new tools’ to combat trolls.
      A Facebook statement read: “The racist abuse sent to Raheem Sterling is unacceptable and we do not want it on Instagram.
      “We have removed the comment and taken action against the account that posted it.
      “As part of our ongoing work in this space, we’ll soon be rolling out new tools to help prevent people seeing abusive messages from strangers.
      “No single thing will fix this challenge overnight.
      “But we’re committed to doing what we can to keep our community safe from abuse.”
      Sterling has previously spoken out about being abused online, demanding social media sites take responsibility – and action.

      In October, the England winger said: “I don’t know how many times I need to say this…
      “Football and social media platforms need to step up, show real leadership and take proper action in tackling online abuse.
      “The technology is there to make a difference, but I’m increasingly questioning if there is the will.”
      Sterling was speaking in response to a worrying report, commission by the PFA and Kick It Out, which found:

      43 per cent of players involved in the study experienced targeted and explicitly racist abuse
      Almost one in three racist posts featured emojis
      Half of the abuse was launched at Sterling, Wilfried Zaha and Adebayo Akinfenwa alone.

      Prince William joins football’s social media boycott over abuse More

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      Why is there a Premier League social media blackout, and who is taking part?

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      THIS weekend SunSport will join Premier League clubs in their social media blackout campaign.From 3pm on Friday, April 30 to 11.59pm on Monday, May 3, all of The Sun’s Twitter accounts will suspend activity.
      Premier League clubs will not be posting on their social media this weekendCredit: PA
      Why is there a Premier League social media blackout?
      Across the sporting world, accounts on social media will fall silent this weekend.
      The initiative is a show of solidarity against racism, with all 20 Premier League clubs involved.
      Billed as ‘weekend of action’, Twitter accounts which would usually be buzzing with activity across a bank-holiday period will instead be dormant.
      The move is a bid to ramp up pressure on social platforms to act against online hate and abuse after a spate of recent incidents.
      Thierry Henry last month told SunSport’s Troy Deeney why he quit social media.
      The Arsenal legend shut down his accounts to take a stand against online abuse.

      Twitter have responded to the campaign indirectly, posting a statement which condemned racist behaviour on their site.
      It read: “Racist behaviour, abuse and harassment have absolutely no place on our service and alongside our partners in football, we condemn racism in all its forms.
      “We are resolute in our commitment to ensure the football conversation on our service is safe for fans, players and everyone involved in the game.
      “Since the started on September 12th, there have been over 30m Tweets from people in the UK about football.
      The blackout is designed to put pressure on social media companiesCredit: PA
      “In that time we have removed over 7,000 Tweets in the UK that were targeting the football conversation with violations of the Twitter Rules.
      “This represents roughly 0.02% of the overall football conversation in the UK and does not reflect the vast majority of people who engage in vibrant discussions about football on Twitter. 
      “Racism is a deep societal and complex issue and everyone has a role to play. 
      “We are committed to dong our part and continue to work closely with valued partners in football, government and police, along with the working group convened by Kick It Out to identify ways to tackle this issue collectively – both online and away from social media.”

      Who else is taking part?
      Alongside SunSport, a number of other broadcasters including Sky Sports, BT Sport and Guardian Sport will all fall silent on Twitter from 3pm on Friday.
      Uefa will follow suit, as well as accounts for the FA, Premier League clubs, EFL, Women’s Super League, PFA, Kick It Out and the Football Supporters Association.
      English cricket and Premiership rugby have also announced they intend to support the boycott.
      Lewis Hamilton says he will be joining in the boycottCredit: EPA
      F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has called on companies to do more in eradicating online hate and will also join the three-day ban.
      He said: ” I think I’m going to be supporting [the boycott] this weekend also. There’s no reason not to.
      “You’ve seen what’s happening around the world, you’ve seen a lot of the talk that happened last year, but this year is a year of action.
      “The social media platforms haven’t done enough at the end. They have the capability of implementing change and making sure that there’s no grounds for that.” More

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      Every English football club to take part in social media boycott today in protest at online hate

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      EVERY English football club will join a social media boycott today in protest at online hate.The FA, Premier League, EFL and the women’s game will turn off Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for four days. 
      Thierry Henry has led the charge for big tech reforms over online abuseCredit: PA
      They are calling on social media firms to stem the “relentless” flow of abuse.
      In an act of unity, The Sun will stop posting on our Twitter accounts from 3pm today until 11.59pm on Monday.
      France’s Thierry Henry, who has led the charge for big tech reform, was “thrilled” by the show of strength.
      He said: “It is a powerful statement.”
      Writing in today’s Sun, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden warns social media giants to act or face the consequences.
      Under his Online Safety Bill, companies could be shut down if they fail to remove abuse. 
      He writes: “Under the legislation, if social media companies fail to keep their promises to users – if they don’t quickly remove racist abuse, for example – they will face severe sanctions.
      “For the very worst failures, they could have their sites blocked.
      “They could also face huge fines of up to ten percent of annual global turnover.
      “For a company like Facebook or YouTube, that could be billions.”
      The Arsenal legend said of the online boycott: ‘It is a powerful statement’Credit: AFP

      He continues: “English football coming off social media is a powerful statement.
      “Everything that tries to destroy the beauty and the happiness of our game — we should fight it.
      “This is my happiest moment. Football stands for something. Not only money.”
      Thierry Henry explains his decision to quit social media More

    • 175 Shares169 Views

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      Why is there a Premier League social media blackout and who is taking part?

      by

      THIS weekend SunSport will join Premier League clubs in their social media blackout campaign.From 3pm on Friday, April 30 to 11.59pm on Monday, May 3, all of The Sun’s Twitter accounts will suspend activity.
      Premier League clubs will not be posting on their social media this weekendCredit: PA
      Why is there a Premier League social media blackout?
      Across the sporting world, accounts on social media will fall silent this weekend.
      The initiative is a show of solidarity against racism, with all 20 Premier League clubs involved.
      Billed as ‘weekend of action’, Twitter accounts which would usually be buzzing with activity across a bank-holiday period will instead be dormant.
      The move is a bid to ramp up pressure on social platforms to act against online hate and abuse after a spate of recent incidents.
      Thierry Henry last month told SunSport’s Troy Deeney why he quit social media.
      The Arsenal legend shut down his accounts to take a stand against online abuse.

      Twitter have responded to the campaign indirectly, posting a statement which condemned racist behaviour on their site.
      It read: “Racist behaviour, abuse and harassment have absolutely no place on our service and alongside our partners in football, we condemn racism in all its forms.
      “We are resolute in our commitment to ensure the football conversation on our service is safe for fans, players and everyone involved in the game.
      “Since the started on September 12th, there have been over 30m Tweets from people in the UK about football.
      The blackout is designed to put pressure on social media companiesCredit: PA
      “In that time we have removed over 7,000 Tweets in the UK that were targeting the football conversation with violations of the Twitter Rules.
      “This represents roughly 0.02% of the overall football conversation in the UK and does not reflect the vast majority of people who engage in vibrant discussions about football on Twitter. 
      “Racism is a deep societal and complex issue and everyone has a role to play. 
      “We are committed to dong our part and continue to work closely with valued partners in football, government and police, along with the working group convened by Kick It Out to identify ways to tackle this issue collectively – both online and away from social media.”

      Who else is taking part?
      Alongside SunSport, a number of other broadcasters including Sky Sports, BT Sport and Guardian Sport will all fall silent on Twitter from 3pm on Friday.
      Uefa will follow suit, as well as accounts for the FA, Premier League clubs, EFL, Women’s Super League, PFA, Kick It Out and the Football Supporters Association.
      English cricket and Premiership rugby have also announced they intend to support the boycott.
      Lewis Hamilton says he will be joining in the boycottCredit: EPA
      F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has called on companies to do more in eradicating online hate and will also join the three-day ban.
      He said: ” I think I’m going to be supporting [the boycott] this weekend also. There’s no reason not to.
      “You’ve seen what’s happening around the world, you’ve seen a lot of the talk that happened last year, but this year is a year of action.
      “The social media platforms haven’t done enough at the end. They have the capability of implementing change and making sure that there’s no grounds for that.” More

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      Premier League social media blackout set to be agreed as clubs unite in powerful anti-racism message

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      PREMIER LEAGUE clubs are set to agree a social media boycott, according to reports.Top-flight teams want to send a message that racism will not be tolerated and will launch a war against online hate.
      Premier League clubs are considering boycotting social media between May 1 and May 3Credit: Getty
      According to Daily Mail, teams are planning to go silent on social media for 24 hours either side of their game on the ‘Weekend of Action’ between May 1-3.
      And the report adds that the Premier League will also boycott social media for the duration of the round of fixtures.
      Clubs have been asked to confirm their support for the plans by 2pm on Monday 19 April, the report states.
      The move is a bid to ramp up pressure on social platforms to act against online hate and abuse after a spate of recent incidents.
      It comes after Swansea ditched social media for a week in a self-imposed seven-day exile.
      Rangers also followed suit in Scotland with a boycott of their own.
      Thierry Henry last month told SunSport’s Troy Deeney why he quit social media.
      The Arsenal legend shut down his accounts to take a stand against online abuse.
      ⚽ Read our Football live blog for the very latest news from around the grounds
      Clubs want to send a message that hate will not be toleratedCredit: Getty
      Henry explained: “Even if you have two million comments that are great, if you have one or two or three that aren’t, it has an impact on you.
      “I’m a man, I’m 43, but I’m still trying to figure out what kind of person I can be.
      “So just imagine when you are a kid and what it can do to your mental health.
      “The sheer pressure of not being on Instagram or Twitter or whatever is second to none for kids.
      “I’m always going to fight for my community and my sport. Being black and in football, I’ve seen too many people suffer.
      “But let’s not forget about the rest. That’s why I mentioned bullying and harassment and the impact it can have on you mentally.

      “People go to the extent of committing suicide. Not only black people are getting abuse on social media, not only football players.”
      The France legend added: “There is freedom of speech. But you can’t shout whatever you want in an airport, a cinema, a police station. This is my point: accountability.
      “Wilfried Zaha got abused and we find out after that the kid is 12 years old. How do you have an account? How can we not know who you are behind that account?”
      Thierry Henry explains his decision to quit social media More

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      Premier League clubs set to join forces to boycott social media in stand against vile racists after spate of incidents

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      PREMIER LEAGUE clubs are considering joining forces to boycott social media.Top-flight teams want to send a message that racism will not be tolerated and a blanket boycott is one way to do so.
      Premier League clubs are considering joining forces to take a stand against online abuseCredit: Reuters
      According to Daily Mail, teams could unite to stay away from platforms such as Instagram and Twitter for an entire round of fixtures.
      The report adds that the idea of a Friday 5pm to Monday 9am social media hiatus has been discussed.
      And such a move would ramp up pressure on social platforms to act against online hate and abuse after a spate of recent incidents.
      One potential hurdle for such a blanket boycott is the commercial deals and agreements that clubs have to promote on their social channels.
      It comes after Swansea ditched social media for a week in a self-imposed seven-day exile.
      Rangers also followed suit in Scotland with a boycott of their own.
      Thierry Henry last month told SunSport’s Troy Deeney why he quit social media.
      The Arsenal legend shut down his accounts to take a stand against online abuse.
      Clubs are pondering a potential boycott social media for an entire round of fixturesCredit: Getty
      Henry explained: “Even if you have two million comments that are great, if you have one or two or three that aren’t, it has an impact on you.
      “I’m a man, I’m 43, but I’m still trying to figure out what kind of person I can be.
      “So just imagine when you are a kid and what it can do to your mental health.
      “The sheer pressure of not being on Instagram or Twitter or whatever is second to none for kids.
      “I’m always going to fight for my community and my sport. Being black and in football, I’ve seen too many people suffer.
      “But let’s not forget about the rest. That’s why I mentioned bullying and harassment and the impact it can have on you mentally.

      “People go to the extent of committing suicide. Not only black people are getting abuse on social media, not only football players.”
      The France legend added: “There is freedom of speech. But you can’t shout whatever you want in an airport, a cinema, a police station. This is my point: accountability.
      “Wilfried Zaha got abused and we find out after that the kid is 12 years old. How do you have an account? How can we not know who you are behind that account?”
      Valencia players walk off after Mouctar Diakhaby accuses Cadiz defender Juan Cala of racist abuse More

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      Karren Brady: Like other sufferers, I cannot believe social networks are unable to take measures to identify abusers

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      ABUSE from the crowd, chanted or shouted, is bad enough but on social media, it is worse. It rankles for longer.I have experience of both, and on the street, too, but in cold print even if it comes from some weirdo with nothing better to do, it also tends to stick.
      Karren Brady has galled on social media giants to do more to stop racismCredit: PR Handout – Free to use
      Mark Zuckerberg has attracted criticism for not doing enough to stop online abuseCredit: The Mega Agency
      For a black man, racial abuse does more. It stains.
      Like other sufferers, I cannot believe Facebook, Instagram, ­Twitter and other social networks are unable to take measures to identify culprits or delete their filth.
      Speak up Nick Clegg, a two-faced politician who graduated to many-faced vice-president of global affairs for Facebook.
      Neither Clegg nor his employer, Mark Zuckerberg, hold out much hope of netting obscenity before it is published.
      And if they act with urgency it will be because, Clegg points out: “Advertisers don’t want their brands and products displayed next to extreme or hateful content — a point that many made explicitly last summer during a high-profile boycott by a number of household-name brands.”
      So there we have it. Never mind the targets of racial abuse, vulnerable and very angry, it’s big advertisers like Disney that really matter.
      But let’s get back to the former Deputy Prime Minister mentioning a boycott last summer.
      It was run by StopHateForProfit for the whole of July and it was estimated it cost Facebook and Instagram, also owned by Zuckerberg, about £23million.
      This is a fiddling sum compared with damages of about £500m ordered by an Illinois court for ‘photo tagging’, a jazzed-up phrase for using facial recognition software.
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      Thierry Henry has called for social media to do more to stop racists

      Even so, such losses are no more than damage on a car bumper to Zuckerberg whose companies earned over £50bn in the last year.
      Hate speech is no more than a troublesome ailment to the social networks.
      But not to us, and I can only assume that lawyers in many countries are assessing whether damages could be won for victims.
      It could be a short-cut to these networks taking significant action.
      Black and ethnic minority footballers are easy targets and so far are victims without serious redress.
      Football is at the apex of victimisation because it is incomparably popular in this country.
      Everybody knows Manchester United and I’d guess a huge number know Marcus Rashford’s name.
      He has been racially abused and says: “I’m a black man and I live every day proud I am.”
      Thierry Henry takes a different tack. He no longer uses social media.
      Arsenal launched a campaign  StopOnlineAbuse to add to ‘Black Lives Matter’ and others aligned with kicking out racism.
      Hnery has quit Twitter until it become a ‘safer place’
      Yet I can’t help thinking they are diffusing the message and prompting insane rage in people of limited conscience.
      Henry’s reaction seems the most effective, for the time being. Companies who claim they are doing everything in their power to prevent racist abuse just aren’t.
      If Zuckerberg, Clegg and their peers spent as much time and money editing out foul abuse as they do in chasing more users, then the debasing of their output would soon be under control.
      Theorists say that improved equality education at school and beyond would eradicate abuse.
      Certainly it would help but we all know that murder and rape is wrong and yet human nature has a disturbed side and racial hatred should be added to the list.
      Social media action is vital but weeding out culprits, big fines and jail must have a part to play.
      ⚽ Read our Football live blog for the very latest news from around the grounds
      Thierry Henry breaks silence after quitting Twitter as he tells Good Morning Britain ‘I will be back on it when it’s safer’ More