Anti-social media: Twitter to meet Manchester United and Kick It Out amid storm over racist tweets

Representatives from the social media giant Twitter will meet with Manchester United and anti-racism organization Kick It Out after United star Paul Pogba became the latest player to be subjected to racist abuse on the site.

Pogba was targeted with racist abuse after he missed a penalty during United's 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night.

It follows hot on the heels of abuse sent to Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham after his failure from the spot saw Chelsea lose their UEFA Super Cup shoot-out with Liverpool last Wednesday.

Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out has revealed it received 159 reports of discrimination via social media in English professional football last season.

Following the latest instances of online abuse, Twitter released a statement admitting they needed to make improvements to better protect users.

"We have always maintained an open and healthy dialogue with our partners in this space, but we know we need to do more to protect our users," the statement began.

"Racist behavior has no place on our platform and we strongly condemn it.

"Over the next few weeks, Twitter representatives will meet with Manchester United, Kick It Out and any other civil society stakeholders interested in hearing about the proactive work Twitter is doing to address online racist abuse towards certain footballers in the UK."

Following the abuse aimed at Abraham and Pogba, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard called for social media companies to act and, while Manchester United and England defender Harry Maguire called on social media companies to verify user accounts to eradicate anonymous abuse.

In addition, former United player and current England women's head coach Phil Neville said the football community should make a statement to social media companies by boycotting their platforms for six months.