Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire have received the most Twitter abuse of any English Premier League players, a report published on Tuesday has found.

Analysis by British media regulator Ofcom of 2.3 million tweets in the first half of last season found nearly 60,000 abusive posts, affecting seven in 10 top-flight players.

Half of that abuse was directed at just 12 individuals-eight from United.

Twitter was chosen due to its popularity with players, and because it makes data available for research, but the study does not take into account the safeguards that are in place.

Ofcom is preparing to regulate technology companies under new Online Safety laws aimed at protecting users.

"These findings shed light on a dark side to the beautiful game," Ofcom group director for broadcasting and online content Kevin Bakhurst said. "Online abuse has no place in sports, nor in wider society, and tackling it requires a team effort.

"Social media firms needn't wait for new laws to make their sites and apps safer for users. When we become the regulator for online safety, tech companies will have to be really open about the steps they're taking to protect users. We will expect them to design their services with safety in mind."

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