Aubameyang deactivates Twitter account after criticising social media company

Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has deactivated his Twitter account after appearing to criticise the social media company in his final tweet.

Aubameyang, who has missed the Gunners' past three matches as he continues to recover from malaria, deactivated his account on Tuesday night.

In his final post, the 31-year-old said he had not missed Twitter and seemed to criticise the platform for no longer "talking about Covid... or online abuse or racism."

Aubameyang's full tweet read: "I ain't missed you Twitter. So we not allowed to talk about anything?

"Only football and Super League? No more talking about Covid?! Or online abuse or racism. Nice. Even Sick (without fone) I was feeling better than now with fone.

"Let me turn it off. See u."

In March, former Arsenal and Barcelona forward Thierry Henry shut down his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts due to the platforms being "too toxic to ignore".

Championship clubs Swansea and Birmingham recently ended week-long social media boycotts, while Rangers players and staff also stepped away from their platforms in support of Glen Kamara and Kemar Roofe.

In the wake of rising levels of abuse and a number of his Liverpool team-mates being targeted, Jordan Henderson has handed control of his social media accounts to the Cybersmile Foundation, a cyber-bullying charity, and the midfielder says he may yet come off the platforms altogether.

Anti-discrimination body Kick It Out have stated they would support any Premier League-wide boycott, amid reports English top-flight clubs were considering such a move.

Instagram reveals plans to fight social media abuse

On Wednesday, Instagram said it empathises with footballers and clubs taking part in social media boycotts, in order to make a stand against online abuse.

Instagram's policy manager, Fadzai Madzingira, told Sky Sports News: "I empathise with a lot of the frustrations. I think the interesting thing with the boycotts is that in the past often boycotts are because people disagree. In this case, we are on the same side."

Instagram has now announced the rollout of a new tool that it hopes will combat online abuse. Working with anti-discrimination charities, the online platform has developed a predefined list of offensive terms and emojis.

If a direct message contains harmful content it will be filtered, so that a user does not have to view it. The feature, which needs to be activated, will be rolled out in a variety of countries in the coming weeks.