Fake accounts on social media that push misleading narratives must be addressed to protect everyone in society, according to the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil, reports Breaking News.
Verona Murphy highlighted a rise in both the frequency and seriousness of threats directed at public officials.
She emphasized that the issue is not confined to politicians, pointing to the impact on young people experiencing cyberbullying, reports Breaking News.
Tánaiste Simon Harris recently condemned “threats of appalling, unspeakable violence” aimed at his family members.
During a statement in the Dáil last week, Ms Murphy spoke about a concerning increase in threats toward elected officials, the “challenges” posed by anonymous online accounts, and asked for a meeting with political leaders to explore solutions, reports Breaking News.
While speaking on The Week In Politics on Sunday, she explained that her role also includes acting like a “shop steward” for Dáil members.
“This is an issue that affects the wider public, I still have a very busy constituency office and we deal with this issue day in and day out,” she said, reports Breaking News.
“In the months since being elected to Ceann Comhairle, it has come to my attention the vast increase and the veracity and the level of threats to members, and it’s a phenomenon now I don’t believe we can ignore any longer. My proposal is to bring the leaders to the table and hopefully neutralise this as a political issue. I think this is something we need to advance legislatively in order to safeguard the public as a whole,” reports Breaking News.
Ms Murphy expressed a desire to see legislation introduced to combat fake profiles online.
“This has nothing to do with free speech, I think the reality is that what is happening is that we have a vast increase in the number of fake profiles across all online platforms, they can literally promote false narratives and because we can’t identify them, we can’t do anything about it,” she said, reports Breaking News.
“Under the Constitution, we have an obligation in which to vindicate the rights of every person, and their right to a good name, and whereby that is affected we must have legislation in place that deals with that as remedy. We have children in schools who are being affected by online bullying to the extent of where they are suicidal. We only have to look across the water, on either side of this country, to see where this can lead if we don’t deal with it,” reports Breaking News.
In other comments, the Ceann Comhairle said the controversy that led to a confidence vote in April of last year has now passed.
The Opposition had initially submitted a no-confidence motion in Ms Murphy following disputes over speaking time and how the coalition was formed.
The Government, however, responded with its own confidence vote, which it won by a margin of 96 to 71, with two abstentions, reports Breaking News.
Now, more than a year later, Ms Murphy said the matter is behind them.
Asked if she is happy she has now won the confidence of members of the Opposition, she said: “I’ve certainly moved on, and we’ve all moved on.
“There is a body of work to do and my job is to ensure the House operates so we can manage democracy essentially,” reports Breaking News.
She said her call for stronger legislation to protect against a rise in serious threats against elected representatives is an area for all to work on together, reports Breaking News.
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