Instagram Troll Who Racially Abused Bukayo Saka Apologises
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An internet troll who made racist comments towards England's Bukayo Saka has apologised for his actions.
The man is said to be in his early 20s from Saudi Arabia and posted racist emojis on Saka's account shortly after the Euro 2020 final.
He was then approached by BBC Radio 4's documentary team from File on 4.
Speaking to the reporters, the unnamed man said: "It was a big mistake, I was angry, and I didn't know what, if he saw the monkeys, what he would feel.
"I really want to apologise to Saka, it was a mistake and I will not do it again for him and any black player."
Horrific racist abuse was levelled at Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho after they missed penalties in the Euro 2020 final.
The BBC team said this troll's account was one of 79 Instagram accounts that remained online after being reported.
However, the apology hasn't been taken lightly by former players.
Ex-Manchester City footballer Nedum Onuoha told File on 4: "It's so toxic, that's how social media feels to me, this type of thing goes on with people who don't necessarily think about their consequences.
"You're the same person who went to Bukayo Saka's Instagram account and put a monkey emoji in a comment for one of his posts.
"I understand disappointment... but for me it crosses a line, and it's wrong on every level."
After File on 4 approached Instagram, the troll's account was suspended for 24 hours while a number of other accounts were also removed.
Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said content had 'mistakenly' been identified as within guidelines instead of referred to human moderators.
He told BBC News: "We have technology to try and prioritise reports and we were mistakenly marking some of these as benign comments, which they are absolutely not.
"The issue has since been addressed.
"Reports on these types of comments should [now] be reviewed properly."
When talking about the abuse he received in July, Saka wrote on social media: "To the social media platforms...
"I don't want any child or adult to have to receive the hateful and hurtful messages that me, Marcus and Jadon have received this week.
"I knew instantly the kind of hate that I was about to receive and that is a sad reality that your powerful platforms are not doing enough to stop these messages."
