Phil Neville calls for social media boycott over online racist abuse
Neville: 'Twitter won't do anything about it, Instagram won't do anything about it. They send you an email reply saying they'll investigate but nothing happens'
England Women head coach Phil Neville is calling on the "football community" to boycott social media platforms until they do more to tackle racism.
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham and Reading's Yakou Meite have all recently received online racist abuse.
Pogba was targeted following United's 1-1 draw with Wolves on Monday Night Football, prompting a strong statement from the club on Tuesday morning to condemn the abuse and urge social media companies "to take action".
Pogba's team-mates Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard have both tweeted their support, too, while United defender Harry Maguire has suggested people should only be able to open social media accounts if they provide proof of identity.
Neville agrees with Maguire but believes companies like Twitter will only act if they are forced to do so.
Disgusting. Social media need to do something about it... Every account that is opened should be verified by a passport/driving licence. Stop these pathetic trolls making numerous accounts to abuse people. @Twitter @instagram twitter.com/skysportsnews/…
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"I personally think that we have to take drastic measures now as a football community," Neville said.
"I've had it with my players on social media, the Premier League stars, the other divisions have had it and I just wonder whether as a football community now we come off social media.
"Twitter won't do anything about it, Instagram won't do anything about it. They send you an email reply saying they'll investigate but nothing happens.
"I've lost total faith in whoever runs these social media departments so as a football community in terms of really sending out a powerful message, let's come off social media and see the effect that it has on these social media companies and whether they are really going to do something about it."
Asked if the football industry should collectively sit down and discuss this with social media companies, Neville replied: "Don't we have that? Don't we have a task force? The FA are doing everything possible, the Premier League have got campaigns and are doing everything possible.
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