A Premier League footballer is abused every four minutes on Twitter, with eight of the 10 most abused players playing for Manchester United.
Harry Maguire, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes were among the most abused Premier League players in the first five months of the 2021-22 season, according to a report by Ofcom and the Alan Turing Institute.
The study of 2.3 million tweets sent after the Euro 2020 final, in which Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were manhandled online after missing penalties for England, found that on average 362 tweets were sent offensive daily, with seven out of 10 in the Premier League. players on Twitter abused.
Roughly one in 12 abusive tweets targeted the victim’s protected characteristic, such as their race or gender.
Ronaldo received the most abuse during the period (12,520 tweets), but he also received the most tweets overall, at 576,915, meaning 2.2 percent of the messages he received were abusive.
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FIFA chief Michele Uva and former England international Karen Carney have helped launch a campaign that seeks to tackle online abuse.
Maguire came in second place, receiving 8,954 abusive messages, which resulted in 14.90 percent of the tweets he received. Many of these messages were sent in response to an apology tweet he made after a loss to Manchester City.
Other United players who have received significant abuse include Fernandes, David de Gea, Fred, Jesse Lingard, who now plays for Nottingham Forest, Rashford and Paul Pogba, who joined Juventus.
England captain and Spurs striker Harry Kane and Manchester City midfielder Jack Grealish also featured in the top 10.
The player who received the most abuse as a percentage of all messages directed at him was Ciaran Clark, at 34.1 percent.
The Newcastle defender was sent off against Norwich City in November and 78 per cent of all the offensive tweets he received came on that day, most of them apparently from fans of his own club.
The tweets “attacked his perceived poor performance, with many suggesting he should ‘get out’ of the club. A small number of tweets focused on his nationality,” the study found.
He added: “Otherwise Ciaran Clark doesn’t get a lot of tweets compared to other players.”
The next most abused player was Crystal Palace’s James McArthur, who received a yellow card after stepping on Saka’s leg. “Users who appear to be Arsenal fans used insults to refer to James McArthur,” the report says.
Kevin Bakhurst, Ofcom’s group director for broadcast and online content, said: “These findings shine a light on a dark side of the beautiful game. Online abuse has no place in sport, or in society at large, and addressing it requires a team effort.”
“Social media companies don’t need to wait for new laws to make their sites and apps safer for users. When we become the regulator of online safety, tech companies are going to have to be really open about the steps they are taking to protect users. We will expect them to design their services with security in mind.
“Fans can also play a positive role in protecting the game they love. Our research shows that the vast majority of online fans behave responsibly and as the new season begins, we ask them to report abusive posts. and unacceptable every time you see them. “
“While addressing online abuse is difficult, we cannot leave it unchallenged. More must be done to stop the worst forms of content to ensure gamers can do their jobs without being abused.”
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