Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I fully support this amendment. It is restrictive in terms of allowing people to go through the Circuit Court to seek the identity of those behind online anonymous publications or posts. Social media in particular is one of the great advances of our time. The right to anonymity on social media can in many ways be positive and allows people to express themselves and engage in public participation and debate in a manner they may not be in a position to do otherwise. There are those, however, who use platforms such as social media under pseudonyms or anonymous accounts, sometimes claiming to represent an entire people or entire town or place and making scurrilous untrue claims and sometimes defamatory claims. If a post makes an aggressive or untrue statement about somebody else, that person should be entitled, through the courts, to find out who it is who made that statement. My only concern is the bar set for a judge to make a determination that there needs to be a belief that the case will be won. It is almost like hearing the case beforehand. Other than that, this is a step in the right direction. Perhaps the Minister will look at the criteria. It should be easier if somebody has been abused, lied about or defamed by an anonymous account to get the identity of the person or persons behind that account.

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