Increase in online abuse directed at country sports community

There has been an increase in online abuse against the country sports community, according to the Countryside Alliance.

The rural organisation said it is "concerned" over the rise of online abuse against the country sports community, which has "risen over the past two years".

Abuse includes online users posting people's home addresses online, leaving false bad reviews for rural businesses and even death threats.

At the beginning of the summer the Countryside Alliance ran a survey which over 500 people responded to and showed that 62% of respondees had experienced online bullying or harassment for supporting country sports.

The survey highlighted that the online bullying of rural communities who support country sports continues to grow year on year and has become more "aggressive and antagonistic", according to the rural group.

"When we first raised the issue last year we asked social media platforms to take action and to understand the serious nature of animal rights extremists online, we were met with platitudes that they take all forms of bullying seriously, yet our survey results tell a different story," the Countryside Alliance said in a statement.

"The Government and social media platforms need to act now to reassure country sports supporters that content on platforms is policed properly and all forms of abuse are taken seriously no matter which community is targeted.

"We will once again write to Facebook and Twitter asking for a meeting and demand that they take this kind of abuse seriously."

The Countryside Alliance has urged victims of online bullying to report the online abuse to the police if there are threats of violence or harassment.