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Newcastle United midfielder Joe Willock said he receives ‘disgusting’ racist messages on social media every day, and added to calls for the platforms to do more to tackle the problem.
“Every day I get messages,” Willock told BBC Radio Newcastle. “Messages about my color or different things that are really gross. It hurts a lot, even to talk about it. The 21-year-old admitted he had considered quitting social media platforms due to the abuse.
“There’s not much you can do – you just have to try and ignore it. I don’t think Instagram, Facebook and Twitter fought enough for us to do anything else, ”said Willock. “It shows up on your phone and they have a way to send these filthy things straight to you, and it hurts.”
Willock, who has joined Newcastle permanently from Arsenal after a successful loan from St James’ Park last season, said he remains on social media in order to communicate with his supporters.
“If you quit social media you lose that connection with all the wonderful fans that support me every day, you want to see my everyday life and see what I’m doing and have that connection with me on the platform that they wouldn’t have in real life. “
A Twitter spokesperson said in July that it had deleted more than 1,000 posts and permanently suspended a number of accounts, while Facebook said it had also quickly deleted the abusive comments.
Four people were arrested last month on allegations of racist abuse against England players online following the team’s final Euro 2020 loss to Italy. The Guardian has learned that several Twitter users who were banned on July 12, the day after the final, are still posting to the platform with usernames changed a month later.
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