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Social media firms were told to get a grip on racist abuse or face punitive action today in the wake of sickening abuse aimed at black England footballers.
Royalty, leading politicians including the Prime Minister and even the Archbishop of Canterbury slammed trolls who targeted Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Sako after last night's Euro 2020 heartbreak.
Police are now investigating but social media firsts have come under presser to take swifter and more decisive action against offenders.
Facebook and Twitter condemned the abuse as 'abhorrent', saying they have taken steps to remove the posts and encouraged people to use filters to block out harmful content.
Twitter said it had removed more than 1,000 tweets and blocked several accounts. But Julian Knight, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said: 'The racist abuse of England players online is repellent and vile.
'Perpetrators should be getting a knock on the door from the police and facing the full force of the law.
'Social media companies once alerted to this abuse have an acute responsibility to immediately take it down.
'The Government needs to get on with legislating the tech giants. Enough of the foot dragging, all those who suffer at the hand of racists, not just England players, deserve better protections now.'
Royalty, leading politicians including the Prime Minister and even the Archbishop of Canterbury slammed trolls who targeted Marcus Rashford, Jadon
