Police are called in when a football star receives sickening abuse on social media and the AFL calls on bosses Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to provide more protection.

The AFL has urged social media bosses to introduce better protections against sickening online abuse after Harley Reid was attacked.

Reid’s west coast coach, Adam Simpson, revealed this week that levels of abuse have risen to the point “where the police need to be involved”, in a wake-up call to teams across the country.

Teenage sensation Reid and teammate Elliot Teo are among the Eagles stars who have been attacked online.

Meanwhile, Fremantle star Jordan Clark blocked his social media accounts after receiving abuse.

“There needs to be more protection for players on social media,” Clark said.

“Whether it’s racial, homophobic or just attacking someone, there needs to be more protection.”

North Melbourne president Dr Sonja Hood has quit Twitter, now known as X, due to gender abuse, while Western Bulldogs teenager Ryley Sanders also deactivated his Instagram account.

However, it has been reported that Sanders was not interested in using the platform.

X is owned by Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, while Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, is run by Mark Zuckerberg.

The AFL says it can only take action against trolls if they are members of a club or league. Alternatively, they can intervene if a player files a police report.

“I have said on numerous occasions to social media platforms that we want them to do more to address these issues,” said Tanya Hosch, the AFL’s general manager of inclusion and social policy.

‘We are now testing different technologies to see if they can help prevent some of that hate speech from reaching people’s platforms.

‘But we also have to continue educating.

“Our targeted players are simply doing their job and some of what they endure as a result of that is just heartbreaking and again it takes its toll on them.”

“So we really want to see more platforms established to help.”