England’s Genge urges social media firms to verify users after death threats By Reuters

(Reuters) – England prop Ellis Genge has called on social media platforms to step up efforts to identify users who resort to racial abuse after he was sent death threats following England’s Six Nations rugby match against Wales.

Genge received the messages after footage surfaced of him not clapping Wales players off the pitch when they beat England 40-24 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff last month.

England Rugby condemned the posts and urged fans to stand against online abuse by reporting offensive tweets.

“I’d like to see people have to be verified or something – some sort of verification,” Genge, 26, told Sky Sports.

Genge said he was mainly concerned by messages that had been sent from anonymous accounts.

“I’m not a big fan of people hiding behind keyboards,” he said. “If it was a normal account … I honestly wouldn’t be bothered at all, it’s more so the fake accounts that wind me up, not the actual verbals coming from them.”