Premier League managers have called for tougher action from social media companies, and suggested the possibility of legal action, after another week in which black players suffered racist abuse online.
West Brom confirmed on Friday they had been in contact with West Midlands police over a message sent to the midfielder Romaine Sawyers on Twitter. It followed the streams of invective directed at two Manchester United players – Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe – on Instagram after the club’s defeat by Sheffield United on Wednesday.
In a statement, West Brom described the message received by Sawyers as “abhorrent”, and their manager, Sam Allardyce, suggested players may have to take collective legal action to stop abuse. He was joined in criticism by United’s manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, and the Premier League’s CEO, Richard Masters, who said companies needed “to do more”.
“It leaves a big question about whether reporting it is enough,” Allardyce said. “Romaine – or any black person across the country – should not have to be open to any type of abuse on social media.
“He is extremely upset as anybody would be. More [people] than Romaine have suffered throughout football in the last few days.
“It does become a greater thing to put right but who does it lie with? Should a player take legal action? That is an avenue for the PFA and all the players to get together about and choose the right way to go.
“How do we hold people accountable? Social media sites need to act in a more responsible way. We have to do our best to cut this out.”
Solskjær said that while some measures – such as tools that allow players to report abuse directly – have had an effect, it was “incredible” that abuse was continuing.
“We’ve been campaigning for a long time now with the Premier League and, to be honest, I think it’s working but there are still some people that haven’t got it, hide behind social media, be anonymous and it’s unacceptable,” he said. “I think the social media platforms need to be looked at, yeah. It’s just incredible that we have this abuse in 2021.”
Masters said: “Tackling online hate is a priority for football, and I believe social media companies need to do more. We are in regular dialogue with social media companies, challenging them to do more. We want to see swifter removal of offensive messages and improved identification and banning of offenders.”
A spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram, said: “There is no place for racism on Instagram and we are committed to removing it when we find it. We know there is more to do and we will continue to work closely with clubs, players and football authorities to investigate instances of discrimination and collectively tackle this issue.”
Twitter has been approached for comment.
