UK police arrest 11 for racist online abuse after Euro 2020 final

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The British Football Police Unit (UKFPU) has launched a hate crimes investigation after racist comments were leveled against some of England’s black players after the July 11 game.

The unit said it has received more than 600 reports from individuals, charities, clubs and other organizations. According to the UKFPU, 207 of them were found to be criminal in nature.

Of the 207 messages found to be criminal, 123 accounts belonged to people outside the UK and UK police say details of these are being processed and passed on to affected countries for action.

So far, 34 accounts have been in the UK, and 11 of those account holders have now been terminated.

The barrage of racist abuse on social media targeted England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after missing penalties in the shootout at the end of the Euro 2020 final last month.

The abuse has led to numerous convictions from the England Football Association, team manager Gareth Southgate and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“There are people who think they can hide behind a profile on social media and get away with posting such heinous comments,” said the chief of police for football of the National Council of Chiefs of Police. , Police Chief Mark Roberts. “They need to think again.”

Roberts said “extensive work” had been done to identify the 11 people arrested.

“The complexity of investigating social media abuse cannot be underestimated,” added Roberts.

READ: England footballers lost Euro 2020 final, but they could still win the culture war

The FA said in a statement it hoped “these arrests have a clear deterrent effect on online abusers who believe there will be no real consequences for their actions.”

The FA statement also urged social media companies to take stronger action to “root out” online abuse and prevent officials from using their platforms, calling on the government to speed up the passage of new legislation on the Internet. online harm.

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