An ITV news presenter who has been subject to racist and sexist abuse for her decision not to wear a Remembrance Day poppy said she made her decision in order to be "neutral and impartial on-screen".

Charlene White, a presenter on ITV News London, received insults on social media after she appeared on screen without the poppy, with many of the jibes focusing on her race.

In a statement on the ITV website, the journalist said she had made the decision not to wear a poppy a number of years ago but the backlash this year had been the worst so far.

She said she supported the armed forces, in which her father and uncle had served, but chose to remain impartial on screen.

"I support and am patron of a number of charities and I am uncomfortable with giving one of those charities more on-screen time than others," she said. "I prefer to be neutral and impartial on screen so that one of those charities doesn't feel less favoured than another. Offscreen in my private life – it's different.

"I wear a red ribbon at the start of December for World Aids Day, a pink ribbon in October during breast cancer awareness month, a badge in April during Bowel Cancer Awareness month, and yes – a poppy on Armistice Day.

"I respect and hold in high esteem those in the armed forces, both my father and my uncle have served in the RAF and the army. Every year I donate to the Poppy Appeal because above all else it is a charity that needs donations, so that it can continue to help support serving and ex-service men and women and their families."

The abuse directed at her on Twitter included racist jibes that her family would not have been able to settle in Britain but for the deaths of soldiers. "Without all those fallen soldiers, Hitler would've taken over Britain and your family would never have been allowed here...," user @alhaurincraig wrote. Another crudely superimposed a picture of a poppy on to an image of the presenter with a banner saying 'Sack the Slag'.

White said the racist and sexist abuse acted against all of the goals that the fallen soldiers had fought for. "The messages of "go back to where you came from" have been interesting to read, as have the 'fat s--g' comments, and the repeated use of the phrase 'black c--t'," she said. "Mostly because it flies in the face of everything that millions of British men and women and those in the Commonwealth have fought for for generations, and continue to fight for: the right to choose, and the right of freedom of speech and expression."

Google has also been the subject of criticism because it used only a small Remembrance Day poppy on its website. Labour MP Gerry Sutcliffe said it was "demeaning not to have something spectacular".

The search engine said it tried to be sensitive in not putting sombre occasions into one of their trademark doodles but instead featuring them in some way on their homepage.