Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

This is a very timely topic because over the past 20 years there have been massive changes in society due to technology. These changes have been largely progressive. People are able to get information and can communicate. There are ways to organise politically and so on through new forms of media. People are able to share their opinions, challenge media narratives, etc.

The negative aspects of social media include how it is used to facilitate cyberbullying, harassment, exploitation, the grooming of children and the controlling of women who are in abusive relationships. It is not good enough that it has taken 20 years for the Parliament to consider laws. It is as if we did not think the Internet would catch on. It is timely that this issue is being considered.

What are the types of abuse we are seeing through social media? A Women's Aid report published in 2015 referred to 293 accounts of digital abuse. Language is very important. The term "revenge porn" is not accurate. It is not revenge. The term "revenge" suggests a person did something wrong and another person is taking his or her revenge. It is not revenge or porn. Rather, it is the abuse of somebody using digital media.

According to Women's Aid, women's personal details have been shared online, lies have been told about them and they have been impersonated through their social media profile by their abusers. The most common abuse involves spreading damaging rumours online, distributing intimate images without consent and even having details advertised on so-called escort sites. We need to do some research. This abuse makes people who are the victims of it very fearful. They suffer from a lack of sleep and feel as if they have no control and that their privacy has been invaded. It is horrendous. Examples have already been given.

In one EU survey, 12% of Irish women and girls over 15 years of age had experienced stalking online. Some 50% of those described physical and online stalking. In the UK, 41% of women who were in abusive relationships experienced online abuse. We hear Deputies and people in general condemning the Internet, but this is all connected. We cannot blame the Internet. Rather, we have to blame the culture which allows these things to happen in the first place.

It is connected to particularly backward attitudes to women in society, where women's bodies are commodified throughout the media, advertising and pop culture. Women are not even meant to be independently sexual, and therefore they should be shamed, an idea which has its roots in religion. Women are victim blamed continually, something we see in comments such as "Why did she go on this date?", "Why did she go to the hotel room?" or "Why did she have her picture taken?". We see the same in rape trials and so on. It has its roots in a culture where it is accepted that men should be allowed to have an opinion or control over women in the first place.

Some of the abuse which has been referred to includes so-called upskirting and downblousing carried out by a stranger unbeknown to a woman. It could happen on public transport or anywhere else. It speaks to that culture of misogyny which is out there. There are cases where a person is known to have images which they may have shared with another person, and are then abused when the relationship breaks down, which is so-called revenge porn. As I said, we should change the language around that. Such behaviour reflects attitudes which are quite prevalent in society.

LGBT people are also victims. It will no longer be tolerated. We see that with the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. People say the #MeToo campaign has gone too far, but it has not gone far enough in many ways. At least social media has allowed people who have been the victims of harassment or abuse to speak out without having to prosecute a case. That is one positive feature.

The Law Reform Commission made recommendations some time ago in respect of issues dealt with in the Bill. Perhaps the Minister could clarify exactly when he expects to be able to move legislation on this. The Law Reform Commission recommended the introduction of two new offences. One was so-called revenge porn or digital abuse, where a former or abusive partner shares images, and a second to deal with so-called upskirting and downblousing where a stranger shames a person. It also recommended the amendment of other offences, such as harassment, to include online harassment and threatening images. It is vital that it is moved on.

We have seen the impact of online abuse. People mentioned the story of Jane who had images of her posted online by an ex-boyfriend. They had been online a year before she even knew what had happened. She went to the Garda which said it could do nothing. Action needs to be taken on this. People who want to abuse others will use social media to do so.

We have heard of landmark cases where companies like Facebook have been taken to task in respect of their responsibility to ensure that children and teenagers, in particular, do not have naked pictures shared online. It is the first time Facebook has had to settle a case out of court.

There is an app which advertises the ability to track one's partner if he or she is playing away from home. One can see how that could be used against somebody who is under the control of a particular person. These are used to control and monitor a partner's movements. They do not allow a person to leave an abusive relationship. It is critical that legislation is discussed in this Parliament and brought in very quickly to deal with that. If this Bill adds to the impetus for that to be done, it is certainly welcome.

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