The Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has issued a warning about the dangers of posting images online.
Ms Fitzgerald made her comments whilst speaking at the launch of the Press Council of Ireland’s annual report. The Justice Minister said children and young people especially have to be careful about the images they post online as those images can be used by unscrupulous people.
Ms Fitzgerald also said education and information for young people regarding the issue is highly important and the gardaí and Internet service providers are very conscious of the obligations in this area. Ms Fitzgerald said it’s difficult from a legislative point of view but the government is always looking at ways to improve the situation. Meanwhile the Ombudsman Peter Feeney said with the huge growth of digital media such as Facebook and Twitter, more and more personal information about children easily available.
Mr Feeney also said journalists should not take the view that just because information about children is available digitally it can be published unilaterally.