Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 December 2020
312. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Justice if she has reviewed the outcomes of recent court judgements relating to digital and cyberbullying; her views on whether much of the legislation in this area is outdated and in need of review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40928/20]
View answerI remain concerned at the deeply harmful effects which cyber-bullying can have on persons who experience that or other harmful online behaviours. These experiences can be devastating for those affected.
Harassment and abuse in any form, whether online or otherwise, is utterly unacceptable and has no place in Irish society. I am, along with my Government colleagues, fully committed to tackling abusive behaviour in all forms. The standards of what is unacceptable in an online setting must be consistent with those in traditional settings, and cross government initiatives to ensure we have modern approaches to deal with these modern challenges are underway.
In recent years, a whole-of-government response was taken to addressing these complex issues, in particular through the Action Plan for Online Safety 2018 - 2019 which identified a range of positive actions to address online safety issues, including cyber-bullying. There has been a general consensus in recent years that the appropriate response to addressing such online issues is one that encompasses educational and awareness raising campaigns, as well as effective actions and policies on the part of internet companies.
My Government colleagues and I are working to update existing legislation and where necessary to introduce new laws, to provide appropriate and robust legislation to deal with behaviour that should be criminalised whether engaged in online or offline.
I am prioritising the enactment of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017, a Private Member’s Bill sponsored by Deputy Brendan Howlin. I have been working with Deputy Howlin to progress this Bill as a priority in line with commitment contained in the Programme for Government.
Having secured cabinet approval for a number of amendments to the Bill, this week it passed through Committee Stage and I am confident, given the cross party support for its enactment, that it will complete the legislative process before the end of the year.
The Bill is silent on the types of technology that may be used to commit the offences provided for under the Bill. It is intentionally neutral to cover all forms of online and offline communications that cause harm to a victim.
The Bill proposes to amend the current offence of harassment in section 10 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 by broadening the scope of the offence to cover persistent communications to or about a person. The maximum penalty for this offence will be increased from 7 years’ to 10 years’ to reflect the harm caused by the most serious forms of harassment.
In addition to the Harassment, Harmful Communications and other Related Offences Bill, separate legislation to include provision for an online safety commissioner has been proposed by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, which published the General Scheme of the Online Safety Media Regulation Bill earlier this year.
The General Scheme of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill will be progressed by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and contains provisions empowering the proposed Online Safety Commissioner to make online safety codes; assess the compliance of online services with those safety codes; direct online services to make changes to their systems; processes and policies and design and seek to apply financial sanctions to services who fail to comply.
Finally, the Programme for Government commits to introducing, within 12 months, legislation to address those who target victims because of their association with a particular identity characteristic, and to revise and update the Incitement to Hatred Act and I can assure Deputies that my Department is working to prepare this legislation on hate crime and hate speech as a priority.
As part of this work the results of a comprehensive public consultation and of a comparative research on international best practice on hate crime legislation will be published shortly. This will input into the formulation of proposals to strengthen our legislation and ensure it is evidence-based, proportionate and effective, while respecting important rights to freedom of expression and association. There will be a further opportunity for stakeholders to share their views when the legislative proposals on this important issue are published for discussion and I intend to bring a General Scheme to Government for approval early in 2021.
