Raheem Sterling, of Manchester City, said social media companies have the technology to tackle online abuse but wondered if they have the will
Sterling was responding to the results of a report by the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) https: // wwwthepfacom / news / 2020/10/21 / pfa-charity-ai-research-study on messages sent on Twitter to 44 players current and former in England
The report says that during the six weeks of “Project Restart,” data science firm Signify Group analyzed 825,515 tweets directed at gamers, identifying more than 3,000 explicitly abusive messages.
No less than 56% of all discriminatory abuse identified during the study was racist, with 43% of Premier League players in the group being targeted and explicitly racist
« I don’t know how many times I need to say this, but football and social media platforms need to step up, show real leadership and take the necessary steps to tackle online abuse, » said Sterling told British media
« The technology is here to make a difference, but I wonder more and more if there is a will »
The study, also supported by anti-discrimination organization Kick It Out, called on stakeholders to fund a centralized, artificial intelligence-based system to monitor abusive users on social media
« The recommendations we announced today can have a real impact, but it takes everyone working together to achieve change, » said Simone Pound, PFA Equality Manager
In response to the study, a Twitter representative told Sky Sports that the platform strongly condemned racist behavior
« We want to reaffirm that abusive and hateful conduct has no place in our service and we will continue to take swift action against the minority who are trying to undermine the conversation for the majority, » the representative said.
Facebook said it recently partnered with Kick it Out as part of its Take A Stand campaign
“We’ve also introduced technology to give people more control over their experience, including a setting for public figures to block people they don’t know from messaging them,” a Facebook representative said.
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Raheem Sterling, social media, Manchester City FC, Wilfried Zaha, Racism
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