Most racist abusers of footballers are still active on Twitter, PFA finds

Racist abuse of footballers on Twitter increased over the course of the 2020-21 season and the majority of offending accounts are still active on the platform, research by the Professional Footballers’ Association has found. More than six million tweets were analysed in a year-long study that identified 359 accounts as sending explicitly racist abuse to players, with the volume of abuse rising by 48% in the second half of the season.As of July 2021, according to the PFA, more than three-quarters of the accounts were still active. Racism formed a small section of the broader abuse, with the PFA reporting 1,674 accounts to Twitter for offensive content.Of those accounts, 367 were verified as belonging to individuals who were fans, members or season-ticket holders at UK football clubs. The statistics are consistent with research conducted by the Guardian into the extent of abuse directed towards the England squad during this summer’s European Championship.The new chief executive of the players’ union, Maheta Molango, said the fact that so many abusers are identifiable means platforms have no excuse for not taking action. “The time has come to move from analysis to action,” Molango said.“The PFA’s work with [the data analysis company] Signify clearly…
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