Boris Johnson has summoned tech companies to Downing Street to order them to do more to tackle online abuse, amid mounting criticism of the government

Tech chiefs called in to No 10 over racist posts to England players

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2021-07-14 01:00:04

Boris Johnson has summoned tech companies to Downing Street to order them to do more to tackle online abuse, amid mounting criticism of the government after black England players were deluged with racist posts in the aftermath of their Euro 2020 defeat.

The England footballer Tyrone Mings has criticised the home secretary, Priti Patel, for her condemnation of the racist abuse faced by his teammates, after she called players taking the knee “gesture politics”.

He said Patel did not get to “stoke the fire” ahead of the tournament and then “pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against, happens”.

Johnson will meet executives from the social media firms in person, and will ask them to hand over the details of those who posted racist content online to the police.

His official spokesperson said Johnson would “reiterate the urgent need for action ahead of tougher laws coming into force in the online harms bill” and that there was “no question that abuse was upsetting, unfair and must be stamped out”.