Twitter Reveal Plan to Combat Racism After Premier League Stars Targeted by Vile Abuse

Twitter have revealed they are working closely with both anti-discrimination organisation Kick It Out and the Professional Footballers' Association to try and put and end to the wave of racism which has plagued the Premier League in recent weeks.

Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba, Kurt Zouma and Tammy Abraham have all been victims of horrific abuse in recent weeks, whilst Reading's Yakou Meite was also targeted after missing a penalty, and many clubs have called for action from Twitter.

Now, Twitter have revealed how they intend to begin to combat racism online, working closely with numerous organisations - including the police - to try and bring an end to this horrific behaviour by several users.

They wrote: "In the past two weeks, we have taken action on more than 700 examples of abuse and hateful conduct related to UK football. This vile content has no place on our service. 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 PFA, 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.

"We want to play our part in curbing this unacceptable behaviour - both online and offline - and will continue engaging with partners and clubs, protecting the conversation from abuse, and taking rapid action on accounts that break our rules."