Politicians urged by Sports Minister Patrick O'Donovan to sue online bullies
He said an increase in court cases is the only way to stop the “unadulterated bullying” of people in the public light.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner after the Government signed off on a new bill over Christmas extending harassment prevention laws to all forms of communication, the Fine Gael TD said further action may be needed to tackle the “phenomenon” of online bullying.
Mr O’Donovan stressed there is no issue with “legitimate commentary” on current affairs issues and how they are being addressed by those in power.
However, mirroring previous concerns raised by Fine Gael chief whip Regina Doherty and former Labour senator Lorraine Higgins, he said aggressive “bullying” online by people with “incurable ignorance” cannot continue to be tolerated.
“There is this phenomenon of online bullying, and certainly a lot of what is masquerading as fair commentary is just unadulterated bullying, intimidation and thuggery.
“People posting something to an online platform need to know it carries the very same weight as the print media, and maybe if we saw more cases people would start to take more notice of that.
“Some of the stuff that’s said about journalists, politicians, sports people, some of the people writing this garbage fail to recognise once you put it up there you can’t take it back,” he said.
The suggestion of a de facto crackdown on online criticism of politicians and others in high-profile public positions is likely to provoke concern among some sections of the public, with the risk of legitimate commentary being curtailed online if any increased legal restrictions are imposed.
However, the proposals mirror previous calls for action on the issue from politicians who have been subjected to racist and violent threats, in addition to inaccurate claims about their lives.
Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald confirmed over Christmas fresh powers to extend harassment laws to all forms of communication had been passed by cabinet.
However, the Dáil’s communications committee has previously rejected suggestions of tighter laws for social media commentary itself, while a more specific bill tabled by former Labour senator Lorraine Higgins, who had been a target of abuse online, failed to get any backing in 2015.
Asked if he has similarly suffered from online abuse, Mr O’Donovan said “everybody gets it” and claimed he takes “pity” on those behind the criticism, adding “the only way to deal with” the issue is to take legal action if needed.
“There’s nobody who doesn’t get it.
I ignore it, as much as I can, an awful lot of it is so ill-informed it can actually be funny, but it’s hard for the people around you to ignore it.”