Alex Bruce has spoken about the abuse his father has suffered, claiming it has "become the norm".
Steve Bruce spoke at his press conference yesterday about one fan who Tweeted his son wishing he would die of Covid - a particularly shocking social media message. It follows racist abuse dished out to players as calls grow for big tech to control their platforms and take a stand against abuse.
Bruce spoke out on Talksport's Jim White show about his own experience.
He said: "It was the stuff with Mike Dean the other night and we were having a conversation about it and we just got on the topic around the kitchen table like most families. So we just said 'Well the level of abuse you get online Dad through myself or my sister, some of the stuff said about you is disgusting'. It went from there really.
"It's disgusting. It's something where I'm not really someone who preaches about stuff or moans about stuff but as a family we just want to get on with it. When you get the levels of abuse he gets online - through me or whoever else - it can be disgusting. It's happened for so many years now, when you're managing and in the public eye like he is it becomes normal.
"I know it's wrong to say that but it's become the norm. I know if his team gets beaten on a Saturday he's going to stick online and on the social media platforms there is."
Asked to expand, he said: "Some of the stuff is brutal, I have to be honest.
"As bad as I've seen recently is 'Your dad is a *******, I hope he dies of Covid'. That's probably as bad as it gets. It's to those levels on a regular basis and we're not just talking about one or two, it's disgusting some of the stuff you see.
"I regularly sit with my wife and sometimes you laugh at some of the stuff because if you didn't what would you do? How do you police this stuff?
"You see other people coming out - Axel Tuanzebe, a young lad coming on in a football match who makes a mistake and gets racially abused and you just think 'It's so easy for an idiot to sit behind a phone or computer to abuse someone'."
He said Dad Steve "brushes it off" but has reached a point where he wanted to speak out.
"I'm not one of those who sits on social media and goes through it. I've got it, I'm on it but I don't sit and go through scouring it. All I know is when I do go on it and scroll through it, the messages are brutal," he said.
"My dad brushes it off. It's unfortunate you get used to it. With what he said yesterday, he just spoke out like a lot of people and like a lot of people he's just had enough of it."
There are calls for social media companies to do more but Bruce feels it will be difficult.
"How do you stop an idiot at the end of the day?" he said.
"People spend hours campaigning on racism but you still see disgusting acts of racism. Something definitely needs to be done."
