Online bullies who target innocent and vulnerable people – directly or indirectly – should face the full rigours of the law, according to Independent Alliance TD for Longford-Westmeath, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran.
Speaking after approval was granted by the Government to draft a General Scheme of a Bill to deal with harmful communications, Deputy Moran said it is past time that something was done about the growing problem of online bullying and harassment.
Up to now, Section 10 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 provides for the offence of harassment, which is committed where a person ‘without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, by any means including the use of the telephone, harasses another by persistently following, watching, pestering, besetting, or communicating with him or her’.
It is proposed to update this offence to take in ‘any means of communication, including digital and online communication’.
The Law Reform Commission has recommended that it should be expanded to apply to indirect communication, such as setting up fake online social media profiles.
New offences that deal with the growing problem of so-called revenge pornography will also be dealt with under the new laws.
“While the online world is fascinating and of huge benefit to us all, there are dark problems and these are manifesting, especially when online tools are being used to bully, harass, or intimidate people,” Deputy Moran said.
“We have seen cases where children in the playground are being bullied online, adults are being bullied online by, in many cases, anonymous online trolls. The impact of this bullying can be devastating.”
Deputy Moran said a strengthening of legislation dealing with harmful communication is welcome and should be drafted and implemented without delay. But he also said that the big online companies also have to play a part.
“The big companies need to take responsibility and realise that their products are facilitating much of this online harassment,” he said. “They need to realise that we have a problem and without their help, it will be harder to silence the trolls and the bullies.”
