Ex-England Women’s footballer Lianne Sanderson calls out ‘violation’, labels Twitter chiefs a ‘joke’ after abuser is not punished

Ex-Chelsea and England forward Lianne Sanderson has revealed that Twitter took no action against a troll who warned her to "stick to her s**t women's game", with the social media giants telling her the abuse met their rules.

The former Arsenal and Juventus star, who won 50 international caps and went to the World Cup finals twice, shared the response she received from adjudicators after she was belittled and told she was a "dirty lesbian".

Despite the poisonous nature of the foul-mouthed diatribe, Twitter replied to Sanderson reporting the message by informing her that they had reviewed the content and "didn't find a violation of our rules".

"I’m not quite sure how much more violating one can be, Twitter?," the five-time Women's Premier League National Division asked. "So this is OK, is it? Such a joke."

I’m not quite sure how much more violating one can be @Twitter ? So this is ok is it? Such a joke! pic.twitter.com/jFONKwTHA3

— Lianne Sanderson (@liannesanderson) April 12, 2021

"I heard you talking about this the other day and it's so true," wrote a colleague.

"How come when you report something it always comes back saying the post hasn't violated any rules?

"It's mad. It can make victims feel they are somehow wrong and enables this disgusting abuse."

Disgraceful - perhaps a boycot is the only way to make them sit up and take action against these cretins.

— Tom Ross (@thegoalzone) April 12, 2021

Another ex-Arsenal forward, Thierry Henry, joined the chorus of high-profile names to voice their despair at the approach taken by social media platforms towards abuse last month.

The club's record goalscorer said he would not be returning to the platforms until bosses took as much decisive action against personal abuse as they seemed to against all forms of copyright breach.

Championship club Swansea are currently carrying out a seven-day boycott of Twitter in response to three of their players suffering racial abuse since February.

Ridiculous. He can get away with that, yet others get a suspension for using profanity jokingly in a conversation with a friend. Sort your ToS enforcement out, @Twitter. Is misogyny and homophobia accepted by your @TwitterSupport team now?

— Steve 2.0 (@AcrossDaKeeper) April 12, 2021

"Disgraceful – perhaps a boycott is the only way to make them sit up and take action against these cretins," a reader told Sanderson, who now works as a pundit on both the men and women's games while providing followers with her thoughts on her beloved Manchester United.

"Wish I could say I was shocked. This is just normal now – absolutely disgraceful," remarked another, as critics cited far lesser crimes that had resulted in accounts being closed, as well as pointing out that the account targeting Sanderson had previously dished out bile.

"Ridiculous, Lianne," said one. "But jealousy is probably the cause. The more successful you are, the more it will happen, sadly.

"Remember that you are breaking ceilings and treading paths for all the girls that come behind you."

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