Ben Cabango and Rabbi Matondo: Police investigate racist

Ben Cabango and Rabbi Matondo: Police investigate racist abuse on social media

BBC

Sunday 28 March 2021



Rabbi Matondo joined Schalke from Manchester City for £9.6m in 2019




Police are investigating after Wales players Ben Cabango and Rabbi Matondo were racially abused on social media.
Cabango and Matondo, both 20, received abusive messages on Instagram after Wales' 1-0 win over Mexico on Saturday.
Matondo has criticised Instagram, while the Football Association of Wales says it is "disgusted by the racial abuse".
Facebook, which owns Instagram, says it has permanently removed the accounts from which the messages were sent and is "committed to doing more".


South Wales Police says it is "investigating the origin of racially motivated social media posts" aimed at Cabango and Matondo.
In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said: "We don't want racist abuse on Instagram and have removed the accounts that sent these messages to Ben Cabango and Rabbi Matondo this weekend.
"We have built tools that mean public figures don't ever have to receive DMs [direct messages] from people they don't follow and we recently announced that we'll take tougher action when we become aware of people breaking our rules in DMs.
"This work is ongoing and we are committed to doing more. We also know these problems are bigger than us, so are working with the industry, government and others to collectively drive societal change through action and education."
The FAW said "racism and all forms of discriminatory behaviour are wholly unacceptable".
"The FAW are in dialogue with South Wales Police to ensure this kind of abhorrent behaviour is reported and investigated," a statement added.


"The FAW joins other national associations and clubs in urging social media platforms and regulatory authorities to take stronger, more effective and urgent action against this desperate behaviour."
Matondo, who is on loan at Stoke City from German club Schalke, used his Twitter page to highlight the abuse he received.
"And it continues... another week of Instagram doing absolutely nothing about racial abuse," he wrote.
"My Instagram will get taken down if I post any clips from my games though... priorities."
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South Wales Police detective chief inspector Lloyd Williams said: "This behaviour is something that will not be tolerated in our community.
"The force takes hate crime seriously and we have worked closely with those involved in football to raise awareness of hate crime amongst players and supporters."
Former Manchester City youngster Matondo made his eighth Wales appearance in the Mexico game, while Swansea City centre-back Cabango won his third senior cap.
The duo join a long list of footballers who have been racially abused on social media in recent months including Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Reece James and Cabango's Swansea team-mate Yan Dhanda.
Swansea urged social media companies to act following the Dhanda incident and they have reiterated their plea in a statement, calling for "more stringent safeguards and punishments in order to eradicate such appalling conduct".

Ben Cabango made his first start for Wales in the friendly win over Mexico



"As a football club, we are appalled by this. No-one should have to endure this type of abuse," said Swansea chief executive Julian Winter.
"Ben is representing his country, he is a proud Welshman and it is a proud moment for he and his family.
"Sadly, instead of talking about football we are once again talking about this disgusting abuse that continues to tarnish the game and society.


"Social media companies now have to act. Words are no longer sufficient - they have to go above and beyond to impose suitable restrictions and combat such abhorrent levels of abuse."
Stoke said they find "racism and all forms of discriminatory behaviour completely unacceptable".


"There is no place in society for such abhorrent behaviour and we will assist in what ever way we can to bring the person who saw fit to abuse Rabbi to justice," a Potters spokesperson added.
Show Racism the Red Card Wales/Cymru backed calls for social media companies to help eliminate online abuse.
"Sadly, we're not shocked," it said on Twitter. "We are seeing this time and time again.

"We echo Rabbi's comments that social media companies need to step up, do more and clamp down on online abuse."

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Wtf is the matter with people? Wales won so this is just moronic idiots copying what they hear in news! About time authorities got grip of this and give these fools 12mnths prison stretch no ifs or buts ..

I'm sure you did not intend this but your posts reads like, if we had not won, it would have been justified to post racist comments.

Glad I only come on here! F@cking detest fb twitter etc! Horrible platforms for these kind to hide behind!!!

Glad I only come on here! F@cking detest fb twitter etc! Horrible platforms for these kind to hide behind!!!

Wouldn't touch any with a barge pole nothing but trouble... how do posts 9yrs old get into public domain? Like Bowen's did other day when he was 15!! So he gets warning from fa?

Glad I only come on here! F@cking detest fb twitter etc! Horrible platforms for these kind to hide behind!!!

Wouldn't touch any with a barge pole nothing but trouble... how do posts 9yrs old get into public domain? Like Bowen's did other day when he was 15!! So he gets warning from fa?

I don't understand it myself mate?? People live their lives openly on these platforms,will never sign up for any of that shit thanks, if I need a "friend" I'll go and visit one

Glad I only come on here! F@cking detest fb twitter etc! Horrible platforms for these kind to hide behind!!!

Wouldn't touch any with a barge pole nothing but trouble... how do posts 9yrs old get into public domain? Like Bowen's did other day when he was 15!! So he gets warning from fa?

I don't understand it myself mate?? People live their lives openly on these platforms,will never sign up for any of that shit thanks, if I need a "friend" I'll go and visit one

My thoughts too mate never been interested in facecloth and the like

Some sort of account verification would sort out this problem pretty quickly. It literally takes a few minutes to create a new email and profile. For every profile that is taken down 100's are probably made.

These companies would lose millions though so they won't do it.

Some sort of account verification would sort out this problem pretty quickly. It literally takes a few minutes to create a new email and profile. For every profile that is taken down 100's are probably made.

These companies would lose millions though so they won't do it.

maybe verification should be enforced....
have to say ,i dont get why footballers bother. would imagine they all get abuse to some degree and who needs it ?

Some sort of account verification would sort out this problem pretty quickly. It literally takes a few minutes to create a new email and profile. For every profile that is taken down 100's are probably made.

These companies would lose millions though so they won't do it.

maybe verification should be enforced....
have to say ,i dont get why footballers bother. would imagine they all get abuse to some degree and who needs it ?

I wouldn't put myself in that situation. But saying if they don't want to be abused then they shouldn't be on social media doesn't solve anything. Anyone should be able to use it without getting abused. Just because they are footballers shouldn't change anything.

Social media is full off hate speech, false news and bullying etc. People can say whatever they like on a fake account with the biggest risk being the account getting closed down. 2 minutes later the person can be back online with a new account. The way its going i think enforced verification is the way to go. At least someone can be held accountable then.

I wish people could understand this when it comes to technology. The Police can do very very little here in terms of tracing the source.

The source could easily be a BOT that is used to spread hate and anger. Russia use them as do other various enemies of the UK.
It is probably automated, the IP address will be spoofed either using a proxy server or hidden using TOR (The Onion Router) network.

Twitter accounts (like other platforms) can be created in bulk - using the same techniques mentioned above. As quickly as they are deleted by Twitter they can be recreated.

The result - the individuals targeted naturally get upset and it affects their mental well being - as it would anyone. They give a personal and natural reaction to something that is probably automated.

The solution - there isnt one really, ignore it ,delete it but the players and everyone else need to realise - it is not normal people doing this. It's either Bots or nefarious agencies trying to destabilise the UK way of life / culture / well being etc.

Certain foreign countries will do anything to try and go for possible weak points in a nations values. So if they think racist comments divide us they will do just that. Same goes with politics . It something the UK/ US and the 'West' have been doing in other countries ever since I can remember - usually in Africa and South America - or anywhere else we thought Communism may be on the rise.

I wish people could understand this when it comes to technology. The Police can do very very little here in terms of tracing the source.

The source could easily be a BOT that is used to spread hate and anger. Russia use them as do other various enemies of the UK.
It is probably automated, the IP address will be spoofed either using a proxy server or hidden using TOR (The Onion Router) network.

Twitter accounts (like other platforms) can be created in bulk - using the same techniques mentioned above. As quickly as they are deleted by Twitter they can be recreated.

The result - the individuals targeted naturally get upset and it affects their mental well being - as it would anyone. They give a personal and natural reaction to something that is probably automated.

The solution - there isnt one really, ignore it ,delete it but the players and everyone else need to realise - it is not normal people doing this. It's either Bots or nefarious agencies trying to destabilise the UK way of life / culture / well being etc.

Certain foreign countries will do anything to try and go for possible weak points in a nations values. So if they think racist comments divide us they will do just that. Same goes with politics . It something the UK/ US and the 'West' have been doing in other countries ever since I can remember - usually in Africa and South America - or anywhere else we thought Communism may be on the rise.

There will always be loopholes and people who exploit them, but surely fake accounts could be significantly reduced with some sort of verification process? You register an account/profile to a bank or an address, once its been approved you get a code which allows you to make an account. My amazon and just eat apps are linked to my phone, bank and address. It really wouldn't be that difficult to do. The issue is it would massively reduce their profits if they did.

When will the police and media realise that the more publicity that is given to these anonymous posts the more it will encourage them. Its obviously become a game being played by morons to see who can make the BBC news. And the media and plod fall for it.

When will the police and media realise that the more publicity that is given to these anonymous posts the more it will encourage them. Its obviously become a game being played by morons to see who can make the BBC news. And the media and plod fall for it.

Yep we are our own worse enemy.

Sadly there will always be racism and all you can do is keep it at a minimum like not giving it any attention. Unfortunately we have our spoilt brats in society who want more and more.