Twitter ‘not doing enough’ to tackle trolls – Stan Collymore
Ex-footballer Stan Collymore criticises Twitter for failing to combat racist and abusive tweets – hours after Olympian Beth Tweddle was the victim of a torrent of abuse during a Twitter Q&A.
Police confirmed they were investigating a series of offensive messages directed at the ex-England striker, after he suggested that Liverpool striker Luis Suarez dived in an attempt to gain a penalty for Liverpool, during Saturday’s match against Aston Villa.
Mr Collymore, now a football pundit, retweeted some of the abuse he has received since the match to his 505,000 followers, as he called on Twitter to take action.
He wrote: “In the last 24 hours I’ve been threatened with murder several times, demeaned on my race, and many of these accounts are still active. Why?
“I accuse Twitter directly of not doing enough to combat racist/homophobic /sexist hate messages, all of which are illegal in the UK.”
Staffordshire police confirmed they were looking into the abuse on Tuesday night.
Read more: Twitter trolls plead guilty to abusive tweets
#Sportswomen sabotage
Earlier that day, Olympian gymnast Beth Tweddle was the victim of a barage of abuse during a Twitter Q&A hosted by Sky Sports.
The session was aimed at promoting women in sport, in which fans could ask Tweddle questions about her career under the hashtag #Sportswomen. Tweddle won Bronze on the uneven bars at the London 2012 Games.
But the 28-year-old became the victim of sexist and vulgar messages, including: “are all sportswomen lesbians?” and “do you think pregnancy is a poor injury excuse and women should be able to run it off?” Sky Sports condemned the abuse as “unacceptable and offensive”.
The Everyday Sexism project said: “Using the hashtag #Sportswomen, it was a great opportunity to bring a spotlight to women’s sport, which is so often under-represented. What followed was the perfect display of the misogyny, aggression and imbalanced treatment faced by sportswomen in every discipline.”
Mr Collymore, whose clubs in the 1990s included Liverpool, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, tweeted that “Several Police forces have been fantastic”, but added: “Twitter haven’t. Dismayed.”
The 42-year-old tweeted: “Staffordshire Police coming, again. Just the 5th time. Pity twitter aren’t interested.
“Police take all complaints seriously,whoever it is. I’ve waited 6 weeks for twitter to provide information to Police. Yet to respond.”
I accuse Twitter directly of not doing enough to combat racist/homophobic /sexist hate messages, all of which are illegal in the UK.
— Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore) January 21, 2014
In the last 24 hours I’ve been threatened with murder several times, demeaned on my race, and many of these accounts are still active.
Why?
— Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore) January 21, 2014
We can confirm that @StaffsPolice are investigating alleged abusive tweets to @StanCollymore. Block and report abuse: http://t.co/veNNBUTYUv
— West Midlands Police (@WMPolice) January 21, 2014
Staffordshire Police coming, again.
Just the 5th time.
Pity twitter aren’t interested.
— Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore) January 21, 2014