Are You Sure You Want to Leave A Comment? Government to Investigate Social Media in Ireland

The internet is generally associated with three things: funny videos, social media and freedom of speech. However, the Government has said it is now planning to investigate the role of social media in Ireland after cases of cyber-bullying have increased rapidly.

The Irish Daily Star reports that the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications will look into whether there is a need for regulation or legislation of public comments on social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter.

This means that the Government will decide if Facebook comments should be monitored for cyber-bullying materials or if legal action can be taken against cyber-bullies under new legislation.

The calls for legislation with regards to social networking websites follow the tragic deaths of Fine Gale Minister Shane McEntee and teenagers Erin Gallagher and Ciara Pugsley, who were all allegedly subjected to cyber-bullying and abuse while they were using social networking sites.

Speaking about the planned move, Fine Gael TD and Committee Chairman Tom Hayes said it was a difficult issue but it needed to be examined.

“Early in the new year we’ll be convening a special meeting to deal with this. We’ll put standards in place, we want to control it. The committee will compile a report seeking action if required,” said Mr Hayes.

“It is very challenging. We don’t want to be putting pressure on people,” he added.

Is it time social media websites were monitored when it comes to cyber-bullying?

However, internet rights groups have spoken out and said that there is no benefit to changing the current laws.

“It’s important to remember that law applies online in exactly the same way it applies offline. If someone breaches criminal law or says something which is defamatory, there are already means available to deal with that. Civil actions can be brought or criminal prosecutions can be started, the identity of the individual can be found out as well,” said a spokesman for Digital Rights Ireland.

“I don’t see any need to go beyond that to introduce special more restrictive rules for the online environment,” the spokesman added.

The move to probe social media websites comes after a new survey showed that 12 per cent of students are bullied every single week.

Do you think the Government should place new laws on social networking websites?