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Instagram to launch new tool to combat online abuse against players

By Vincent Ashitey
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Instagram will introduce a new tool that will prevent players from seeing racist messages after Raheem Sterling was subjected to abuse.

The latest attack comes after English sport's unprecedented social media boycott in an effort to tackle racism.

Sterling's Manchester City side secured a place in their first ever Champions League final with victory over PSG on Tuesday night.

But the English forward was subjected to online abuse, which has since been deleted, and Instagram have vowed to punish that account.

In a statement issued to the Daily Mail Instagram, who are owned by Facebook, confirmed that a new tool would be coming in to tackle the abuse.

It read: "The racist abuse sent to Raheem Sterling is unacceptable and we do not want it on Instagram. We have removed the comment and taken action against the responsible account.

"As part of our ongoing work in this space, this week we're rolling out new tools to help prevent people seeing abusive messages from strangers. We're committed to doing what we can to keep our community safe."

The new tool will allow users to automatically filter direct messaging requests containing offensive words, phrases and emojis.

Social media companies have been under pressure to do more in the fight against racism.

A collective letter was signed by several of England's leading football authorities and sent to Facebook and Twitter chiefs as they asked for more action.

But the abuse received by Sterling and Stoke winger Rabbi Matondo has only served to highlight the issue.

A Facebook company spokesman said: "The racist abuse sent to Raheem Sterling is unacceptable and we do not want it on Instagram.

"We have removed the comment and taken action against the account that posted it. As part of our ongoing work in this space, this week we're rolling out new tools to help prevent people seeing abusive messages from strangers.

"No single thing will fix this challenge overnight but we're committed to doing what we can to keep our community safe from abuse."

Source: mirror.co.uk