Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht teacht isteach chun déileáil leis an gceist seo. At first glance, "catfish" might sound like a non-native marine animal but this is something that has been brought to the fore in the past year or more by people using their power in the media. I refer in particular to the two Johnnies and journalists like Ellen Coyne, who have highlighted the practice of catfishing. This is a process whereby somebody uses an image or false identity online to dupe another person into believing he or she is somebody else and uses that knowledge to act against that other person. Catfishing is essentially where a person dupes another person online into believing they are somebody else. In many instances, it has happened in the context of online dating and romantic contexts but there is also a wider issue in respect of fraud and things like that.
In Ireland alone, there has been a great deal of discussion of catfishing. Most people will be aware of the GAA catfish story. In this case, one particular person is estimated to have duped around 40 people online into believing she was somebody else entirely and that she was in a relationship with them even though they had never physically met. For people who are not online and who are not dealing with the online world, this might seem strange but the reality is that people are increasingly living online. They are conducting their business online and conducting relationships online before they ever meet in person. This is, therefore, an area that is ripe for abuse and misrepresentation by nefarious people.
This false online presence and duping of other people is now happening an awful lot. As I have said, it was also highlighted by journalist Ellen Coyne in the "Cruel Intentions: Catching the Catfish" podcast. It leads to the people who have been duped feeling foolish and like they have done something wrong. They feel like they have not been careful enough or that they have been stupid when, in actual fact, the level at which this happens is extremely sophisticated and detailed. Listening to Johnny B. and Johnny Smacks on "The 2 Johnnies Podcast", the extent of and detail involved in what they describe as having happened is extraordinary. Any person could be hoodwinked by it. This not only leads to that person feeling foolish and that they have been duped, giving them a fear of bringing the matter to the attention of the authorities, but it equally affects the person whose image has been stolen. It must be remembered that the images used to dupe people online are images of real people, although they have been misused in the context of the catfishing. Those people are also affected by this. On the "Cruel Intentions" podcast, I heard of a young woman whose image had been stolen. She is afraid that, when going into a local coffee shop, she will be approached by someone who thinks they are in a relationship with her because her image has been used online. It damages a whole range of people, even if they are not involved and have done nothing wrong.
We can all recognise that this is wrong and immoral. What is extraordinary is that it is not illegal. It is clear that catfishing is not against the law in Ireland. When it goes into the wider realm of fraud and people are defrauded out of money, an offence is certainly committed under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001. There have also been attempts in these Houses, particularly by my former colleague, the former Senator, Lisa Chambers, to bring forward legislation to outlaw this practice but, at the moment, it is not against the law. Notwithstanding the fact it is immoral and patently wrong and that it damages a whole cohort of people, including both those whose images are stolen and those who are fooled online by stolen images, how can we expect to stop people from doing this and how can we expect anything to change if we do not make this illegal and introduce real consequences in the courts and in criminal justice legislation for people who do this?
