A TROLL has been found guilty of sending “vile and toxic” online abuse to a Premier League striker.
Derek Ng De Ren of Singapore has been convicted of harassing Albion striker Neal Maupay by assaulting him on social media.
He was arrested following an investigation and a formal criminal complaint filed by the Premier League last August. He will be sentenced on July 7.
The 24-year-old forward received threat messages sent via Instagram, which were then reported to the Premier League through their online abuse reporting system.
The league then worked with Maupay the, the club and local Singapore authorities to initiate legal action, which resulted in prosecution and conviction.
Welcoming the news, Maupay said: “I would like to thank the club and the Premier League for the support they have shown me in this matter, and the professionalism they have shown, as well as the police and courts of Singapore.
“The despicable and toxic abuse I suffered is a daily occurrence for many professional athletes and public figures and I hope it will somehow show these online trolls that this is totally unacceptable and that the authorities are ready to take the necessary measures. ”
In June 2020, the Premier League launched its dedicated online abuse reporting system, which allows players, managers and their families to directly report abusive messages received through social media platforms.
Each case will be reviewed, reported to the relevant social media company, investigated and legal action taken where appropriate.
Neal Maupay reports abuse
Albion general manager and vice-chairman Paul Barber said: “We welcome the verdict and thank the Premier League and their legal team for their support for the club and Neal, as well as the Singapore authorities for recognizing the seriousness of the offense.
“This demonstrates that even when the posts are anonymous, we will use all available legal resources to identify the perpetrators, and we remind everyone that our club and the Premier League have a zero tolerance policy towards anyone who abuses our players, our staff or other supporters.
” The message is clear. Online abuse, trolling and hate of any kind will not be tolerated; social media should be a safe and secure platform for everyone to enjoy.
“On our own channels, users will be banned, reported to platform owners and reported to the police when they have broken the law. We fully expect other social media platforms to follow the same zero tolerance policy.
“We simply will not tolerate this abuse. Social media giants need to do more, but until they do, we are ready to play our part in working with the Premier League and other authorities to identify and root out those individuals. ”
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-06-02 07:48:53
