Twitter has been urged to do more to monitor and flag racist posts aimed at footballers - with some abusive tweets still online five years after they were posted.
Press Association found historical tweets with racist language aimed at Premier League stars Danny Welbeck and Raheem Sterling. The tweets were still online yesterday, despite being posted in 2014 and 2016.
Reporters found the posts a day after a Government white paper proposed new measures to punish internet companies which do not do enough to protect consumers.
At the launch, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: "We cannot allow the leaders of some of the tech companies to simply look the other way and deny their share of responsibility even as content on their platforms incites criminality, abuse and even murder."
Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha was allegedly targeted with racist abuse online following his side's win over Newcastle on Saturday.
Zaha himself has called for tougher punishments for those who post racist messages on social media.
Zaha told Sky Sports : "It is really sad to see,"
"We wear Kick It Out [clothing] but I feel there needs to be something proper that scares people that they don't just get up and decide just to be racist basically."
Chelsea's Michy Batschuayi, Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Tottenham's Moussa Sissoko and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah have also been the subject of tweets containing racist language in recent weeks.
Asked how the social media company deals with racism on its platform, a Twitter spokesperson said: "Abuse and harassment - no matter who the victim - have no place on Twitter."
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Twitter says it uses "proprietary-built internal technology to proactively find abusive content", but was unable to immediately explain how the abusive tweets had remained on the platform for so long.
The company added: "Our Hateful Conduct Policy prohibits the promotion of violence against - or threats of attack towards - people on the basis of certain categories such as race and ethnic origin."
Anti-racism campaigners Kick It Out say Twitter's safeguards are "evidently" not working.
"Twitter says abuse and harassment has 'no place' on its site, but it is obvious that there really is a place for it there and in our view the problem is getting worse," a spokesperson said.
"Footballers, like anyone in society, are entitled to go about their work without being abused, intimidated or trolled."
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