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Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has called for more to be done to prevent online abuse after he revealed a “vile, racist and threatening” message he received in the wake of Wednesday’s 2-0 loss at Juventus.
Walker played the whole match in Turin but could not help Pep Guardiola’s team avoid a seventh defeat in 10 matches.
England international Walker posted a screenshot of a message he received on Instagram from an unnamed user to his social media accounts on Thursday, which read: “Bro you can f*** around and die you stupid ass n****.”
“No one should ever be subjected to the sort of vile, racist and threatening abuse I have received online since last night’s match,” Walker wrote on his X and Instagram accounts. Instagram and the authorities need to stop this happening for the sake of all who are suffering this abuse. It is never acceptable.
Manchester City’s Kyle WalkerManchester City’s Kyle Walker
Manchester City’s Kyle Walker | Martin Rickett/PA Wire
“To our fans, we will continue to work as a team to do better, to improve and to turn the corner together.”
City quickly condemned the racist attack. A club statement read: “Manchester City strongly condemns the racist abuse that Kyle Walker was subject to online following last night’s fixture.
“We refuse to tolerate discrimination of any kind, regardless of whether that be in stadiums or online. We will be offering Kyle our full support following the disgusting treatment he has received.”
A Premier League statement read: “The Premier League condemns all forms of discrimination. Racism has no place in our game or anywhere in society. We encourage anyone who hears or sees discriminatory abuse to report it so action can be taken. The Premier League will support Kyle Walker and the club to tackle online hate.”
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A spokesperson from Meta told the PA news agency: “No one should be subjected to racist abuse, and sending messages like this is against our rules. DMs are end-to-end encrypted, which means we can’t review or take action on a message unless the person who received the abusive DM reports it to us in-app.
“We are in touch with Kyle Walker and his team who have now reported this content and we will be taking appropriate action. No one thing will stop this behaviour overnight, but we’ll work to help protect our community from abuse, and support police investigations.”
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