Rachel Riley says she constantly receives invasive and disgusting abuse online

Rachel Riley has opened up about receiving "invasive and disgusting" abuse on social media, detailing the horrific content she is sent daily.

The 36 year old Countdown presenter, who is a mum-of-two, revealed she is inundated with unsolicited naked pictures and videos in her direct messages.

The maths genius, who returned to her Channel 4 show last month with baby daughter Noa by her side, has also had doctored images of her face edited onto the bodies of adult stars while they're carrying out sexual acts.

Rachel, who boasts more than 500,000 followers on Instagram, has also received phone calls from complete strangers on the app.

"It's astounding to know that randomers are sending porn – it empowers them to know that it's gone to your inbox. They get off on it," the star told the MailOnline.

"On Instagram, any old pervert can privately send you something that should be illegal. If they did it on the street, they'd be arrested."

Rachel, who is married to former Strictly Come Dancing professional Pasha Kovalev, insisted social media companies have a duty of care to protect women in the public eye from constantly receiving unwanted attention and disgusting private messages from men.

The star went on to say she believes all platforms aren't fit to "regulate themselves", and more needs to be done to ensure women have more control over their accounts to avoid abuse.

Rachel also claimed that enough isn't been done to handle these incidents even if they're reported.

"They've got the technology to identify that this content is revolting, but these users still have the technology to send unsolicited images to you," she added.

"Teenage girls could receive this stuff while no one else knows because it's behind closed doors. It's invasive and disgusting," the star declared.

The Countdown presenter is an ambassador for the Centre for Countering Digital Hate.

Determined to change the level of protection and support for women on social media, Rachel joined Amber Heard and three other celebrities by giving researchers at the service access to her Instagram account.

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The CCDH found that 254 different accounts had sent the women abuse between December 28 and February 28 and while all the messages had been reported, 227 were still active.

One in every 15 messages during that time also broke Instagram's own rules for abuse and harassment, and strangers had attempted to contact Rachel by video call on five separate occasions.

OK! has contacted a representative at Instagram for comment.

CCDH chief executive Imran Ahmed commented on the findings: "Instagram has chosen to side with abusers by negligently creating a culture in which abusers expect no consequences – denying women dignity and their ability to use digital spaces without harassment.

"There is an epidemic of misogynist abuse taking place in women's DMs," he added.

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