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”. Sign up to TechScape, Alex Hern’s weekly tech newsletter, starting Wednesday 14 July. 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. One senior Tory called the situation “embarrassing” and highlighted the Conservative MP Lee Anderson who said he would not watch the team because they took the knee.

Source: The Guardian July 13, 2021 13:52 UTC