Toney's agent driving major new crackdown on vile racist abuse on social media
Super agent Jonathan Barnett is trying to drive a major crackdown on racism and social media abuse.
Barnett is calling on football authorities and social media platforms to work more closely with police and authorities to take action. It follows after Brentford striker Ivan Toney was targeted by online abuse with his club condemning racist abuse online.
Toney’s agent Barnett who is head of ICM Stellar - the biggest agency in the world - has offered full support to the player. But he has also written to every member of staff, every client and told them they will show a major commitment to equality and driving out abuse.
Barnett said: “I unequivocally condemn the racist abuse our player Ivan Toney has been subjected to on social media. Everyone at ICM Stellar is shocked that these types of unconscionable and vile behaviours are still prevalent in society today.
“This is sadly not the first time Ivan has received racist abuse online and social media can no longer ignore a widespread and recurring problem across its platforms.
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“We call on all forms of social media to do more to prevent, address and combat unacceptable and distressing incidents of discrimination such as this. My team will conduct an investigation and pass on any findings to the appropriate authorities — we will not just be bystanders.
“Some time ago I personally instituted a diversity and inclusivity department at our agency and headed by Pokuaa Ansere, we have taken considerable action against all forms of discrimination.
“We continue this fight and will never give in to prejudice, intolerance or hate. We now call upon all clubs, institutions, fellow agencies and governing bodies to join us and send out a clear message that we stand united against racist, discriminatory or unacceptable levels of abuse.
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“I personally stand with Ivan, his family and friends, as well as anyone else who has been subjected to discrimination. We implore the football world to kick it out — once and for all.”
Stellar are expecting to release a full statement while Barnett says he is willing to work with police and football authorities to help the wider football world clean up the scourge of the game. Brentford also issued a strong statement condemning the abuse towards Toney which has come again.
It read: “We are angered and frustrated to report that Ivan Toney has been subjected to racist abuse on Instagram once more. We have initiated investigations into this vile harassment which we condemn in the strongest terms.
"Sadly, this isn’t the first time Ivan has had to deal with this. A similar incident occurred just four weeks ago, leading us to identify an alleged perpetrator whom we reported to the authorities. To date, we have yet to see any action taken against that individual.
“In general, the response from social media platforms to these ongoing issues has been underwhelming. Their solutions, such as filters to simply hide the abuse may safeguard the players, but miss the mark entirely and do not discourage the offenders. Without real consequences for those responsible, the cycle is doomed to repeat.
“We do have faith that things can change. We appreciate the dialogue that we have with the likes of Meta but we call for more decisive and urgent action to combat online hate. We call for prompt investigations, and importantly, we call for criminal prosecutions.
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“We will continue to work with the authorities and the Premier League and to support our players as we tackle this awful online abuse.”
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