Twitter fails to delete 99% of racist tweets aimed at footballers in run-up to World Cup

Tweets hurling racist abuse at footballers, including the N-word, monkey emojis and calls for them to be deported, are not being removed by Twitter.

New research shows the platform failed to act on 99 out of 100 racist tweets reported to it in the week before the World Cup.

Only one was removed after being flagged on Wednesday, a tweet that repeated a racial slur 16 times. All the others remained live this weekend.

The abuse was aimed at 43 players including England stars Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka, who were among several players targeted after the Euro 2020 final.

The findings come at a turbulent time for Twitter and will fuel concerns about players possibly being targeted during the World Cup.

It is unclear how this will be applied to abuse that tags individuals or mentions them by name, who are likely to see the post without seeking it out.

Twitter was contacted for comment but did not respond. It has laid off much of its communications team.