Stan Collymore has lambasted Twitter for not tackling the problem of abusive tweets on its platform after the former England footballer once again became the victim of online abuse.
Staffordshire Police said on Tuesday evening that they are investigating offensive messages sent to Collymore, many of which the former Nottingham Forest striker had already retweeted to his 503,000 followers. The abuse started after the talkSPORT pundit suggested that Liverpool striker Luis Suarez had dived during Saturday’s game at Anfield against Aston Villa.
Piers Morgan and Stan Collymore were subjected to Twitter abuse
Collymore posted: "In the last 24 hours I've been threatened with murder several times, demeaned on my race, and many of these accounts are still active. Why?"
"I accuse Twitter directly of not doing enough to combat racist/homophobic /sexist hate messages, all of which are illegal in the UK."
The 42-year-old later tweeted:
The former player added: "Police take all complaints seriously,whoever it is. I've waited 6 weeks for twitter to provide information to Police. Yet to respond."
After CNN broadcaster Piers Morgan also demanded police take action over the threats to Collymore, the former tabloid editor himself became a target for a raft of vile abuse.
Morgan tweeted: "I repeat, racist abuse & death threats both criminal offences in UK. So keep spewing it, trolls, and I will have you ALL dealt with."
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West Midlands Police confirmed on its Twitter page that Staffordshire Police were investigating "alleged abusive tweets to Stan Collymore" and urged people to block and report abuse at www.report-it.org.uk.
A Twitter spokeswoman said on Tuesday evening the company was unable to comment on individual users. However she pointed out that targeted abuse was against its rules and the site had recently made it easier for users to report abusive messages to them. There are "established processes" in place for working with law enforcement, the spokeswoman added.