Joe Willock considered quitting social media after being targeted by racist abuse ‘every day’

Newcastle midfielder Joe Willock has revealed he considered quitting social media over racist abuse, revealing he is targeted on a daily basis.

The 21-year-old, who joined the Magpies from Arsenal in a deal worth more than £20million last week, says he has decided against leaving the platforms as he does not want to due to the connection the platforms allow him with supporters.

Willock says it is hard to ignore the abuse he gets and has called on social media companies to do more in the fight against racism.

“I don’t want to lose that connection with the everyday supporters,” he told BBC Radio Newcastle.

“Every day I get messages. Messages saying about my colour or different things that are disgusting, really.

“There’s not much you can do - you just have to try and ignore it. I don’t think Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have put up enough of a fight for us to do anything else.

“I feel like the only thing you can do in this day and age is just ignore it and try to put it at the back of your head.

“It comes up on your phone and they have a way of direct messaging you on to your phone these disgusting things and it sort of hurts. It hurts a lot - even speaking about it.

“If you come off social media, you lose that connection with all the wonderful fans that are supporting me every day, want to see my everyday life and see what I do and have that connection with me over the platform that they wouldn’t have in real life.”

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