Instagram slammed for making ‘mockery’ of racism fight as Martial abused again

Instagram has been accused of making a ‘mockery’ of its vow to fight online racial hatred as Anthony Martial was AGAIN subjected to vile online abuse.

After Martial was substituted during Manchester United ’s 1-1 draw at West Brom, a number of users directed offensive messages at the French striker, using racist language and symbols.

It is the second time in three weeks Martial has suffered on Instagram, following similarly horrendous abuse in the wake of United’s loss to Sheffield United on January 27.

On that occasion, United teammate Axel Tuanzebe was also targeted, prompting the club to issue a strongly-worded condemnation of “mindless idiots”.

United urged the social media platforms and regulatory authorities to strengthen measures to prevent this kind of behaviour.

And while the club insist their statement remains unchanged, they did join forces last week with Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton to jointly condemn the escalating trend.

In response, Instagram announced it would impose stricter penalties, including the removal of accounts but stopped short of insisting on identifying users.

And the reaction of the social media giants has infuriated anti-racism campaigners.

Troy Townsend, of Kick It Out, said last night: “Here we go again. It’s so predictable now, it makes a mockery of Instagram’s comments this week.

“I wonder if this account will be barred for a month and collect their ‘Insta slap on the wrist’ and ‘don’t do that again’ talk?”

The platform’s parent company, Facebook, insisted it had removed offensive posts after their publication.

Both Facebook and Twitter continue to say there is no place for racism on their services but they also continue to stop short of demanding users are identifiable.

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