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Online Safety

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 July 2021

Thursday, 1 July 2021

Questions (354)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

354. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the extent to which harassment on or offline whereby business persons are targeted by way of malice have been reported to An Garda Síochána by county nationwide; the action taken or proposed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35750/21]

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Written answers

I am advised by the Garda Authorities that despite extensive checks conducted on PULSE, no incident type of relevance to the specific type of behaviour referred to by the Deputy, which appears to equate more to defamation rather then harassment, were found.

Checks were conducted on all charge wordings and there are none which contain reference to defamation which may be a civil matter.

In addition, it is not possible to distinguish between injured parties on the basis of such generic descriptions as ‘business persons’. It would be a matter for the courts to determine if such claims were unsubstantiated or not.

I am informed that, given the above, An Garda Síochána are unable to provide material for a response to the Deputy's question as it stands.

Details of all harassment incidents recorded from 2003 to the end of Q1 2021 are publicly available via the CSO website.

I can advise the Deputy that all matters reported to An Garda Síochána are fully investigated. If someone believes that a crime has been committed they should engage directly with their local/nearest Garda station. Gardaí will be best placed to advise how to proceed in these circumstances, and also address any safety concerns they might have.

Alternatively, they can contact An Garda Síochána by using the Garda Confidential Line (Tel: 1800 666 111) which provides a ready means of reporting crimes anonymously to An Garda Síochána.

The Deputy may be aware that there is legislation in place to combat harassment. 'Coco's Law', also referred to as the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act, entered into force on 10 February 2021.

In addition to creating new offences to address the sending of, or threatening to send, intimate images without the consent, the Act also updated the existing harassment legislation. It broadened the scope of the offence of harassment which now covers all forms of persistent communications about a person and has increased the penalty from seven to 10 years to reflect the harm that can be caused by the most serious forms of harassment.

The Act also provides for a new offence of sending, distributing or publishing a threatening or grossly offensive message by any means of communication with intent to cause harm to the victim. This offence covers once-off harmful communications, as distinct from harassment which requires persistence. This offence carries a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine and/or 2 years’ imprisonment.

The new legislation is intentionally silent about the types of technology that may be used to commit the offences so as to cover all forms of online and offline communications that cause harm to a victim.

Again I would urge anyone who believes they have been the victim of a criminal offence to report the matter to the Gardaí.

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