WTA world number one Iga Swiatek is back as a BBC Sport columnist at the French Open.

People sending abusive messages to athletes on social media is unacceptable and a huge problem in our society.

Recently I played against Andreea Prisacariu in Poland's Billie Jean King Cup match with Romania and I am aware that she said afterwards she had received bad messages because she lost.

I don't know exactly what happened in this instance but I know hate is there and that it's a serious issue which needs addressing.

It is tough to do something about it, particularly as an athlete, because you don't have control of what people write.

Many times this is a person who is betting and lost money - this seems to be a 'reason' for some of the abuse - but they should be aware that many of these messages are actually read.

They have a bad impact and it's not helpful. They don't know what is going on in our lives. These people should stop and think it through.

We are human. It is easy to write a message and push publish. But most of the time they wouldn't say it to our faces.

I feel like it could be a sign of weakness and maybe it is worth changing perspective and notice that at both sides there are humans.

I'm the kind of person who tries to avoid reading all the stuff sent to me. I don't usually use my phone too much during tournaments.

Sometimes I get messages but during a tournament I'm just too focused on the things I have to work on.

When I do go on Instagram I'm not checking the other inboxes where messages from accounts you don't follow go.

I go on Instagram and Twitter but I only follow the profiles of people I know and I don't look at those of people who are talking about me.

So I'm not reading these kind of bad messages but I know some other players are.

'Taking a stand on issues is important - but I don't know everything about the world'

In my last column I spoke about how things have changed for me since becoming the WTA world number one. Another difference is being seen more of a spokesperson because of my new status.

Like, in my news conference after I beat Lesia Tsurenko, I was asked about the Wimbledon decision and I was trying to say what I think but without offending anybody because I want sports to connect people and to make us united.

That's because there is not a simple solution in that situation.

Generally I feel that with my position I should take a stand and say what I feel about issues.

But on the other hand I want to do that in a smart way that is not going to interrupt my preparation for matches and I'm not going to lose focus because of that.

I'm still trying to find the right balance because first of all my voice is heard loud and clear when I do my job well and I win.

I'm aware I don't know everything about the world - I'm still only 20 and I'm still learning.

I read a lot of books and I'm trying to educate myself to speak more about different matters.

One issue I am continuing to highlight is the war in Ukraine. Wearing a Ukrainian-coloured ribbon on my kit is something I'm continuing to do to show my support.

I feel like it is a good way of reminding people there is still a war going on. Many players have already started not to wear ribbons, they only did that at the beginning when the war started.

Ukrainians are going to feel the impact of the war for many, many years so I wanted to be consistent in what I do and show the little support I can give.

Since becoming the world number one I haven't felt the need to speak to more experienced players about how to deal with the added responsibilities.

For now I feel I have been doing fine but if I have some problems I would reach out to some players.

I have the feeling I could get support from some of the players, but on the other hand it is also tough asking your competitors that sort of thing.

Ashleigh Barty, who I replaced as world number one when she retired in March, is the one who would honestly say what she feels, what she thinks and how she dealt with those things.

Ash is also perfect to give advice because she isn't my competitor any more, of course!

Ashley has always been really helpful and really supportive.

I respect her for how much class she has, and I hope to carry myself as the world number one in the same way as she did.

Iga Swiatek was talking to Jonathan Jurejko at Roland Garros.