Social media giants such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram regularly insist they are committed to eradicating all forms of abuse from their platforms.

But high-profile incidents have led to the government threatening tech companies with significant financial sanctions if they fail to take stringent action.

Earlier this month, Instagram - owned by Facebook - announced it was rolling out a tool which will automatically hide abusive messages sent to users.

On the impending boycott, a Facebook spokesman said: "No-one should have to experience abuse anywhere, and it’s against our policies to harass or discriminate against people on Instagram or Facebook.

"We agree with and have already made progress on many of the players’ suggestions, including taking tougher action against people breaking our rules in DMs.

"We’ll continue listening to feedback and keep fighting hate and racism on our platform."

Twitter has been approached for comment.