Tottenham have called for social media companies to take action after Heung-min Son was subjected to racist abuse online during their win over West Ham.
Son came off the bench to net Spurs’ second goal in their 2-0 win against the Hammers at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the South Korean forward receiving a heart-warming message from a fan in the ground shortly after the final whistle.
However, the player was subjected to racist abuse on social media, something which Tottenham have strongly condemned.
Following the match, Spurs posted on Twitter: “We have been made aware of the utterly reprehensible online racist abuse directed at Heung-Min Son during today’s match, which has been reported by the club.
“We stand with Sonny and once again call on the social media companies and authorities to take action.”
The Football Association replied to Tottenham’s tweet with a similar call for action later on Sunday evening.
“We strongly condemn the racist abuse aimed at Son Heung-min this evening,” read an FA tweet.
“This has no place in our game and we fully support the authorities and social media companies to take the strongest possible action to tackle it.”
Anti-racism group Kick It Out earlier this month demanded ‘meaningful reforms’ after Brentford striker Ivan Toney was subjected to racial abuse on Instagram.
The abuse occurred after Toney’s controversial equaliser against Arsenal, which should have been ruled out by VAR for offside against team-mate Christian Norgaard.
Toney revealed in October last year that he had been targeted on Instagram after scoring both goals in a 2-0 league victory over Brighton.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, condemned the abuse at the time, but said it could not take take action because the message had not been reported within the app.
Police were called in and Antonio Neill of Robert Street, Blyth, Northumberland, admitted a charge of sending an offensive message to Toney at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court in January.
