Twitter defends approach to tackling racism after Premier League players subject to abuse

Kurt Zouma was racially abused over the weekend after conceding an own goal in Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Sheffield United

Twitter has defended its approach to tackling racism on the platform after several Premier League players were recently subject to racist abuse.

In the latest case of online racism, Kurt Zouma was abused over the weekend after conceding an own goal in Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Sheffield United.

Last month Paul Pogba became the third black player to face online abuse in a week for missing a penalty, having seen an effort saved in Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham and Reading’s Yakou Meite suffered similar treatment online after missing spot-kicks. United described the abuse of Pogba as “disgusting”.

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

Twitter says it will “continue to take swift action” over the issue, adding it has dealt with “more than 700 examples of hateful conduct” in the last two weeks.

It has also met clubs and other football bodies, such as the Professional Footballers’ Association and Kick It Out, in an attempt to “tackle the issue collectively”.

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

“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.”