91Èȱ¬

A group of celebrities, including Gary Lineker, have made to pledge to silence online trolls by not publicising the social media abuse they receive.

Instead, the group of television stars, politicians and campaigners will be muting, blocking and reporting nasty comments - with the worst of them handed to the police.

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker - who has 7.4 million Twitter followers - said: "Don't rise to the bait, block the trolls and take some time out."

The public figures have been convinced by some new research that suggests hate speech is being unintentionally spread via social media when insults and put downs are quoted or shared.

For example, one piece of information showed that a quoted tweet by Labour MP David Lammy to his 562,000 followers was able to increase his abuser's own popularity by 14%.

Lineker said he was determined to "show online trolls the red card" after seeing the racist abuse directed at young black Premier League footballers.

Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham and Manchester United star Marcus Rashford are among several players who have received racist abuse on social media in the past month.

Lineker said: "We've all been shocked by the way in which racist trolls have been targeting footballers recently.

"It is frankly horrifying that they have done so in a calculated way to spread their abhorrent views. Let's not allow the beautiful game to be tarnished in this way.

"Everyone across the sporting world will be grateful for this guide on how we can show online trolls the red card. Don't rise to the bait, block the trolls and take some time out."