Declan Rice: England players have no plans to boycott social media

England players have no plans to boycott social media for the Euros but may need to discuss it in the future, says Declan Rice.

Manager Gareth Southgate backed Thierry Henry’s decision to quit social media over the lack of action taken against racist abuse and bullying behaviour, and asked his players to consider doing the same.

Southgate made “a conscious decision to come off social media” when he became England U21 boss in 2013 because “I didn’t want to be reading the sorts of messages that I knew would be landing in my box”.

Rice regularly interacts with his followers on Twitter and Instagram but various other key figures in the sport are coming off social media due to a lack of action when it comes to racism on the platform.

“Something definitely has to be done,” said Rice. “There has been way too much in the last year especially with social media abuse.

“For someone like me who runs my own account and has that interaction and love with the fans, I don’t have any problem with it.

“It is important that a player like me can have interaction with West Ham or England fans.

“Thierry Henry has boycotted it. I’ve seen Gareth Bale come out and say something. It may be a decision that is spoken about in the future between the players, at the moment there is not.”