Social media accounts found to send racist abuse to football players remain active despite repeated complaints, according to the PFA.

Research from data science firm Signify on behalf of the players’ union shows that three-in-four accounts reported for sending explicit abuse to players are still live on Twitter.

Using machine learning, Signify examined more than six million posts on Twitter, monitoring player accounts from the Premier League, Women’s Super League and English Football League.

The study revealed a 48 percent increase in racist abuse online during the latter half of the 2020/21 season. Notably, half of abusive accounts uncovered were based in the UK.

Across the entirety of the 2020/21 campaign, Signify reported 1,674 accounts for abuse, with around one-third of these affiliated with UK-based clubs.

“The report also found players across the leagues faced homophobic, ableist and sexist abuse,” the PFA said.

Signify found that homophobic comments were included in one-third of all abusive posts, with this particular type of abuse peaking in December 2020.

This peak, the PFA said, corresponded with high-profile campaigns against homophobia, such as the Rainbow Laces campaign.

According to the association, the research shows that social media platforms still have much work to do with regard to tackling abusive content and harassment.

Only 56% of racially abusive posts identified during the season had been removed, the PFA said. Some posts remained live for months while others remained online for the full duration of the season.

“The data in this report suggests platforms are concentrating on removing individual, offensive posts instead of holding those who write them accountable,” the PFA said.

Watford captain and PFA Players’ Board representative Troy Deeney said the Signify report highlights a poor response by social media companies and called for change.

“Social media companies are huge businesses with the best tech people,” he said. “If they wanted to find solutions to online abuse, they could.”

“When is enough, enough? Now we know that abusive accounts and their affiliation to a club can be identified, more must be done to hold these people accountable,” Deeney added.

✊🏻✊🏽✊🏿 PFA Players’ Board member, @T_Deeney questions why social media companies aren’t taking the same action we have to address online abuse?
#ENOUGH pic.twitter.com/KiGlhoPkjH

— Professional Footballers’ Association (@PFA) August 5, 2021

PFA chief executive Maheta Molango echoed Deeney’s comments, noting that “the time has come to move from analysis to action”.

“The PFA’s work with Signify clearly shows that the technology exists to identify abuse at scale and the people behind offensive accounts,” he said.

“Having access to this data means that real-world consequences can be pursued for online abuse. If the players’ union can do this, so can the tech giants.”

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In May, the PFA joined a football-wide boycott to draw attention to the extent of racist abuse on social media.

While abusive posts initially dropped in the wake of this boycott, Signify data shows that racist abuse of players went on to peak during that same month.

Two months later, racist abuse on social media once again drew global attention following England’s defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.

England footballers including Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Sako and Jaden Sancho were subjected to a torrent of racist and abusive comments on social media in the hours after the defeat.

The English FA condemned the abuse and called on tougher punishments for individuals found to post racist abuse.

We’ve issued a statement after a number of @England players were subjected to racist abuse online following the #EURO2020 final: https://t.co/B7gB180OQa

— The FA (@FA) July 12, 2021

In response to public outcry, social media firms including Twitter and Facebook pledged to do more to tackle the issue.

Speaking at the time, a spokesperson for Twitter said the firm “swiftly removed” tweets containing abuse and suspended “a number of accounts”.

To tackle abusive posts and content, Twitter says it uses a combination of machine learning-based automation and human review.

Facebook moderates content in a similar fashion, providing users with additional tools aimed at stopping abuse. This includes its ‘Hidden Words’ filter.

Despite obvious technical capabilities, former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand questioned why social media companies appear incapable of monitoring and tackling abuse.

“Now is the time for change,” he said. “If we have this kind of technology at our disposal, why aren’t social media companies using it to eliminate racist and discriminatory abuse?”

Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said the research findings bear similarities to its own study. In the wake of the Euro 2020 final, CCDH identified 105 Instagram accounts linked to racist messages sent to England footballers.

Despite this, Ahmed revealed that Instagram had only taken action against six of the reported accounts within 48 hours.

Speaking to DIGIT, the Ahmed said that financial penalties must now be considered to force social media platforms into action.

“We have heard enough talk from the big tech platforms – the research consistently demonstrates that there is a systemic and chronic failure to deal with hate speech and misinformation across the board,” he said.

“Now is the time for the government to introduce tough financial penalties to incentivise social media companies and their billionaire owners to finally clean up their platforms.”