Racist Emojis Are the Latest Test for Facebook, Twitter Moderators

In a soccer game in Liverpool’s Goodison Park in 1988, player John Barnes stepped away from his position and used the back of his heel to kick away a banana that had been thrown toward him. Captured in an iconic photo, the moment encapsulated the racial abuse that Black soccer players then faced in the U.K.

More than 30 years later, the medium has changed, yet the racism persists: After England lost to Italy this July in the final of the UEFA European Championship, Black players for the British side faced an onslaught of bananas. Instead of physical fruit, these were emojis slung at their social media profiles, along with monkeys and other imagery. “The impact was as deep and as meaningful as when it was actual bananas,” says Simone Pound, director of equality, diversity, and inclusion for the U.K.’s Professional Footballers’ Association.