Gareth Bale feels that a mass boycott of social media platforms by high-profile athletes could help tackle the issue of online racist abuse.
The Wales captain said that abuse aimed at international team-mates Rabbi Matondo and Ben Cabango in the wake of their 1-0 international friendly win against Mexico was "disappointing".
Matondo took to Twitter to reveal the abuse he had received and police in Cardiff are now investigating the matter but Bale feels that a boycott of social media could help the fight against online racist abuse if it is done in the right way.
"If everyone did it at once, not just one or two people, I would," said Bale when asked if he would be prepared to shut down his social media accounts.
"If it was a campaign where a lot of influential people in sport and other forms of life on social media make a statement, then I think it could help.
"If that was the case, I'm all for that."
#TogetherStronger ♥️🏴 https://t.co/fTissYiOBs
— Rabbi Matondo (@rabbi_matondo) March 28, 2021
Last week, former France and Arsenal striker Thierry Henry disabled all of his social media accounts, explaining in a post on Twitter that they would remain out of action until "people in power are able to regulate their platforms with the same vigour and ferocity that they currently do when you infringe copyright.".
Bale offered his own support to his two team-mates who were targetted by online abusers at the weekend.
"It wasn't nice to wake up on Sunday to hear these things," he said.
"Ben, Rabbi, and anyone else knows we are here to support them, we are behind them and if they need to talk to us at all we are here.
"It's very disappointing and something needs to happen in terms of the social media companies. To get an account, you need to put your passport in.
"I think that will stop people saying things because then you will be able to trace them down and hold them accountable."
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