Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill brought forward by the Labour Party which seeks to consolidate existing law but which also deals with new crimes. In some ways, it tries to catch up with the advances in technology which very often have outpaced our laws and probably always will.

The effects of online harassment on citizens and us as public representatives are very stressful and damaging. They are lasting and stay with a person. The stories are numerous. Reports in recent weeks on the effects on young children and how they have been attacked and sought online by those masquerading as friends and people of the same age have been quite disturbing. What can we expect from interactions online and what should we expect? I think we all agree that the way people behave online, the things they are willing to say and type and the things they will say from the comfort of their own couch while tapping away furiously on their phones or iPads are probably very different from the interactions they would have face to face. We often hear the term "keyboard warrior" or that someone is very brave behind his or her keyboard. It does matter and does make it easier for people to be quite nasty, vindictive and scathing of others online.

The other challenge with which we will all have to try to think of ways to deal is that of fake accounts. How will we enforce the laws on those with faceless, nameless and troll accounts? There are many laws on the Statute Book which are difficult to enforce, but that does not mean we should not criminalise something that is clearly wrong. Obviously, we should try to incentivise citizens to do the right thing. Clearly, we will have a huge challenge in trying to enforce these laws and track down those who are making harmful communications and attacking people online, including children, other citizens and all of us. We need to do everything we can to endeavour to protect everybody online because, as Deputy James Browne said, the Internet should be a safe space. In addition to making these actions illegal, giving recourse to the courts and putting laws in place to protect people, we absolutely must educate the public and allow them to equip themselves to protect themselves.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae might like to get off his phone while we are debating such a serious issue in the Chamber. It is quite outrageous.

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