England's Premier League and several other top football bodies called for an online clampdown on harmful messages directed at players on Thursday. In a joint letter, the organizations asked Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey to "use the power of your global systems to bring this to an end."

The letter warns that racist messages on social media have piled towards footballers in recent weeks. 

"We have had many meetings with your executives over the years, but the reality is your platforms remain havens for abuse. Your inaction has created the belief in the minds of the anonymous perpetrators that they are beyond reach," the letter said. 

"The language used is debasing, often threatening and illegal."

The heads of the football bodies appealed to "basic human decency" in their message to Zuckerberg and Dorsey.

Institutions including the English Football Association, Premier League, European League of Football, Professional Footballers Association  and Kick It Out, a campaign for equality in football, signed the letter. 

Kick It Out said on Twitter that the harmful content targeting footballers was "just an example of the hate that spreads on these platforms."

Manchester United players Marcus Rashford, Axel Tuanzebe and Anthony Martial are among the victims of online abuse. 

Footballers demand strict measures

The football governing bodies called for mechanisms to block offensive content before it is posted, and for social media companies to delete discriminatory messages.

They also demanded strict verification methods to prevent users from starting new accounts if they were already banned for online abuse. 

"We call for meetings with your organizations to discuss the evidence of abuse on your platforms, the action you are taking, and how you plan to directly address the matters," the letter added. 

Companies' action 'not enough' 

Social media companies have long received criticism for dragging their feet on tackling hate speech, as they fail to impose measures to prosecute abusive content under international human rights laws.

Facebook and Twitter have been introducing some measures to prevent the spread of misinformation and hateful content. Still, users demand more action. 

Football chiefs said that they appreciated social media companies' efforts to tackle racism on their platforms, but they believed that "far more is needed to drive change." 

UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said that he was working on a new legislation that could impose fines on social media companies. 

"We're introducing a new age of accountability for these (social media) companies through our upcoming Online Safety Bill and this could see huge fines for firms which fail to clearly and transparently protect their users," Dowden recently said on Twitter. 

Online and offline racial abuse 

The issue of racial discrimination in football has been under the spotlight in recent years, as more non-white players around Europe call out abuses. 

In 2019, footballers in England and Wales launched a campaign to boycott social media for 24 hours in protest of hate speech. 

The Premier League recently introduced a framework of action as it tries to tackle racial discrimination in football, including assurance of equal opportunity for players from minority backgrounds.  

Non-white footballers have reported incidents of online and offline racial discrimination from referees, other players and supporters. 

fb/dj (AFP, Reuters)