Verona Murphy has said she has become aware of a “vast increase” in the level of anonymous online threats to Oireachtas members since she was elected Ceann Comhairle.
The Independent TD for Wexford said she was “in effect shop steward” for Oireachtas members and that there was a need now to tackle fake profiles on social media which are spreading false narratives.
“This is an issue that affects the wider public,” she said.
Since being elected Ceann Comhairle, Ms Murphy said there had been a “vast increase” to the level of threats to members and this was “a phenomenon that I don’t believe we can ignore any longer”.
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Ms Murphy said Tánaiste Simon Harris has written to her following her proposal to bring leaders from parties in the Oireachtas together to “depoliticise or neutralise this as a political issue”.
“This is something we need to advance legislatively in order to safeguard the public as a whole”.
The Irish Times recently reported that a member of Government had given gardaí permission to monitor his phone as part of their investigations into the abuse and threats he has been subjected to.
One of the threats, made in person, was by a man who threatened to shoot the politician in the head.
Another senior politician described being abused and threatened so frequently that gardaí have advised them not to leave Leinster House for trips into the city centre when they are working.
Last week, at the resumption of Dáil business following the summer break, Ms Murphy referred to a rise in threats and called for political leadership and new legislation to address the issue.
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She rejected the notion that tackling the issue could prove contentious, given protections for free speech.
“The reality is what’s happening is that we have a vast increase in the number of fake profiles who are able to promulgate across all online platforms,” she told RTÉ’s The Week in Politics. “They can literally promote false narratives, and because we can’t identify them, we can’t do anything about them.”
Put to her that social media companies would fight against such moves, Ms Murphy replied, “that can’t be the case” and that broadcasters were “heavily regulated”.
Under the Constitution, she said there was an obligation to vindicate the rights of all people and their right to a good name.
“Whereby that is affected, we must have legislation in place that deals with that as remedy.”
