Brentford have demanded social media companies do more to combat online hate after reporting striker Ivan Toney has again been subjected to racist abuse.
The club say Toney was racially abused on Instagram and have opened an investigation into the “vile harassment” of the England international.
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Brentford also revealed they had reported another alleged perpetrator four weeks ago but that had, to date, not resulted in any action being taken.
A club statement read: “We are angered and frustrated to report that Ivan Toney has been subjected to racist abuse on Instagram once more.
“We have initiated investigations into this vile harassment which we condemn in the strongest terms.
“Sadly, this isn’t the first time Ivan has had to deal with this. A similar incident occurred just four weeks ago, leading us to identify an alleged perpetrator whom we reported to the authorities. To date, we have yet to see any action taken against that individual.
Club Statement – Social Media Abuse
Brentford calls for decisive action and criminal prosecutions
We are angered and frustrated to report that Ivan Toney has been subjected to racist abuse on Instagram once more
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) February 7, 2024
“In general, the response from social media platforms to these ongoing issues has been underwhelming. Their solutions, such as filters to simply hide the abuse may safeguard the players, but miss the mark entirely and do not discourage the offenders. Without real consequences for those responsible, the cycle is doomed to repeat.
“We do have faith that things can change. We appreciate the dialogue that we have with the likes of Meta but we call for more decisive and urgent action to combat online hate. We call for prompt investigations, and importantly, we call for criminal prosecutions.
“We will continue to work with the authorities and the Premier League and to support our players as we tackle this awful online abuse.”
