Stricter laws are needed - Revenge porn

SO-CALLED revenge porn is a heinous crime that can wreck people’s lives and even drive a person to suicide.

Given the poisonous effect on the victims of those who carry out this crime — and crime is the only word for it though it is not yet classified as such in this country — there is an onus on the Government to fast-track laws when it receives the report and draft bill on the offence currently being prepared by the Law Reform Commission.

It is astonishing how often Ireland lags behind other countries in outlawing for such a heinous crime. Revenge porn happens when intimate images of a person are uploaded without their consent. The commission aims to introduce rapid takedown orders compelling the operators of search engines and other social media to act quickly. This approach has worked effectively in jurisdictions from Australia to the US, where legal loopholes have also been blocked.

Whether it even goes far enough is questionable. By stopping short of mandatory sentences for the perpetrators, the danger is that the warped individuals who upload such images will not be deterred from so doing. As for the victim, the damage will already be done because their image would already have been seen all over the internet. This is the sort of abusive bullying by disgruntled individuals which should be stopped in its tracks. Mandatory sentences may be the only way to stop them