Newcastle head coach Steve Bruce subject to death threats online

Newcastle head coach Steve Bruce revealed people have wished him dead on social media amid mounting concern over online abuse.

Bruce does not use social media, but has been told by his children, as he battles to win over his critics on Tyneside.

His comments come after numerous footballers have reported receiving online racist abuse while Premier League referee Mike Dean was sent death threats following his involvement in two controversial incidents.

An open letter from football's major governing bodies released on Thursday called on social media platforms to do more to stamp out abuse, with Bruce later revealing the comments he has had to deal with.

Bruce said: "I don't go on (social media), but of course people close to me do and they are sensitive towards their father, of course. Yep, I've had that to deal with.

"We've got to police it better and there are some vulnerable people out there. When I see the nature of some of it, it's totally and utterly vile. Some of the stuff I've had has been obscene. You feel the hatred and something has to be done.

"When I see an experienced referee - whatever you might think of Mike Dean, nobody deserves that. He gets a decision wrong and it was in the last 30 minutes of the game and nothing really hinged on it, but he feels the need to have to step down this weekend.

Asked about the nature of the abuse he had received, Bruce said: "I'm not sure how far back the abuse goes, but I just know that in conversations with my family over the last few days when we've been talking about the Mike Dean situation, it was brought to my attention that I've had it too.

"It's really horrible stuff, which I couldn't really get my breath with, really, things like someone saying they hope I die of Covid and all of this."

Football's letter to social media

Social media companies have become "havens for abuse" and must introduce measures to prevent offenders operating anonymously on their platforms, football's leaders have said.

An open letter from all the game's major governing bodies to Twitter and Facebook's chief executives Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg says those platforms, along with Instagram which is owned by Facebook, must do more to stamp out abuse.

A host of individuals across the men's and women's professional game have been targeted in recent weeks, and the men at the top of the technology giants have been urged to put in place systems which enable the police to accurately identify account users when necessary.

The letter states: "We have had many meetings with your executives over the years but the reality is your platforms remain havens for abuse.

"Your inaction has created the belief in the minds of the anonymous perpetrators that they are beyond reach. The relentless flow of racist and discriminatory messages feeds on itself: the more it is tolerated by Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, platforms with billions of users, the more it becomes normal, accepted behaviour."

The letter was signed by Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham, his counterparts at the Premier League and the EFL, Richard Masters and Trevor Birch, the director of the women's professional game Kelly Simmons, Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor, League Managers Association chief executive Richard Bevan, referees' chief Mike Riley and Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari.

The letter urges the platforms to ensure no user is "hounded off" their platforms because of their gender or the colour of their skin.

It calls on them to put in place:

  • Mechanisms which filter or block posts containing racist or discriminatory material.

  • Operate "robust, transparent and swift" measures to take down any material which does get into circulation.

  • An improved verification process which would make it easier for police to identify who the holder of an account is.

  • For users who engage in abusive behaviour to be barred from re-registering an account.

  • Platforms should "actively and expeditiously" assist investigating authorities in their attempts to identify abusers.

The letter concludes: "Players, match officials, managers and coaches of any origin and background and at any level of football should be able to participate in the game without having to endure illegal abuse.

"We, the leaders of the game in English football, will do everything we can to protect them, but we cannot succeed until you change the ability of offenders to remain anonymous.

"We note the current assurances from Facebook that standards will be tightened, but far more is needed to drive change.

"We call for meetings with your organisations to discuss the evidence of abuse on your platforms, the action you are taking, and how you plan to directly address the matters outlined in this letter."

Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said on Wednesday: "We're introducing a new age of accountability for these (social media) companies through our upcoming Online Safety Bill and this could see huge fines for firms which fail to clearly and transparently protect their users."

Twitter released a statement in response to the football bodies’ open letter which read:

“There is no room for racist abuse on Twitter and we are resolute in our commitment to ensure the football conversation on our service is safe for fans, players and everyone involved in the game.“We strongly condemn this behaviour, which does not reflect the vast majority of fans who use Twitter to participate in the vibrant conversations around football in the UK. We will continue to take swift action on the minority that try to undermine the conversation for the majority.“We also continue to work closely with valued partners in the football community and through the football working group convened by Kick It Out we will collaborate and identify ways to tackle this unacceptable behaviour – both online and offline.”According to Twitter’s latest Transparency Report, there was a 95 per cent increase in the number of accounts facing action over breaches of the platform’s abuse policy.Twitter has also given users greater control over their conversations including allowing users to choose who can reply to conversations they start.

Facebook and Instagram have been contacted for a response to the football bodies' letter.