Online and in firing line: Public figures at the receiving end of cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is associated with school-aged children and teenagers but online abuse has escalated so that politicians, celebrities and their families are being targeted, writes Kelly O’Brien.

THE cyberbullying of public representatives first made headlines in 2012 when Meath TD Shane McEntee took his own life. Two days after his birthday, the 56-year-old father-of-three took his dogs for a walk and never returned.

In the absence of any personal or financial problems, friends and colleagues talked about the intense pressure placed upon Minister McEntee leading up to his death, some citing vitriolic comments on social media as possible factors in his suicide.

Some media outlets speculated it was cyberbullying that ultimately led the TD to take his own life.

Shane’s daughter Helen, who has since been elected to her father’s seat in Meat East, does not believe cyberbullying was the cause of his death.

What is clear, however, is that online abuse of politicians has become worryingly prevalent.

According to an Irish Examiner survey, 82% of TDs said they had received abusive comments on social media while 48% said they had experienced cyberbullying — a prolonged campaign of abuse by an individual or group.

The survey, which was distributed to the 166 members of Dáil Eireann, received 110 responses. Of these, 89 TDs said they were active on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

Of those active on social media:

- 73 said they had received abusive comments online

- 43 felt they had been the victims of cyberbullying

- 42 were reluctant to speak out about the issue personally

- 29 requested to remain anonymous

Those who felt they were unable to speak out explained they were afraid of public backlash should they do so.

Remarkably, when considering the issue of cyberbullying is treated with such importance by schools, the Government, and in the media, politicians feel they are under pressure to ignore the bullying directed at them.

A common response from TDs was a fear of attracting more hateful comments from online abusers or ‘trolls’. A large number of representatives were also afraid their constituents would say they were attention-seeking.

Carlow-Kilkenny TD Ann Phelan explained: “The pressure is on politicians to ignore cyberbullying because highlighting it only invokes more criticism.”

Laois-Offaly TD Marcella Corcoran Kennedy agreed, stating: “A politician speaking out will be pilloried. You see, we are not considered to be human beings.”

Earlier this year, Labour senator Lorraine Higgins did speak out about the issue — revealing she had received death threats online during the European elections.

The Galway woman reported a man to the gardaí after he commented on her Facebook page threatening to “fuckin murder her in the face with a hacksaw”. Another comment referred to her as “a scummy bitch cow”.

Ms Higgins said she received online abuse which intensified as her campaign continued.

While the cyberbullying of politicians seems to have escalated here recently, it doesn’t appear to be solely an Irish problem.

British MP Louise Mensch notably spoke out against online abusers two years ago. She dubbed her Twitter trolls as “misogynistic” after users sent her sexist insults, sexually graphic comments and even violent threats.

Many of the tweets included references to her appearance, speculation about her sexuality and crude opinions about how attractive they did or did not find her.

It appears public figures who are not in government are also in the firing line — Ryan Tubridy, Helen Flanagan and Stephen Fry have all quit Twitter because of online trolls, Irish footballer Darron Gibson quit the platform after only two hours because of all the abuse he received and, more recently, Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda had to retire her handle because of users sending her nasty, vicious and threatening comments after her father’s suicide.

According to Shawn Day, a Digital Humanities Specialist who currently lectures at UCC, QUB and Trinity, people need to become more aware of cyberbullying, especially in relation to public figures, and understand that it isn’t only a problem for teens.

“[Politicians] become a lightning rod for resentment. You ask, ‘Who do they think they are?’ You tear them down, you say, ‘I should be there, I should be doing that, what do they have that I don’t?’ It’s dangerous. But this is psychology. And it’s not that it doesn’t happen anywhere else, it does, but it does happen a lot here and it’s unfortunate.” Public figures should realise what they are letting themselves in for, but that does not give people an excuse to target them, Shawn said.

“I think you have to enter into that arena with the assumption that there’s going to be negatives and positives. The challenge is that there’s no policing of it whatsoever. There is no real law in place to govern what you say online. I put a lot of onus on the individual to realise that they are tweeting in a public space, they are speaking in a public space, they are making a public statement and they have to stand over that. And I think that’s where Twitter ends up having to make sure that anonymity is not preserved. That the person who is tweeting that person and is doing so as an identifiable individual.”

In Ireland, the main statutes that protect victims of cyberbullying are the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997 and the Offences against the Person Act 1861.

While these laws are in place to protect individuals from abuse, no matter what forms it comes in, they are, admittedly, quite dated and do not have provisions specific to online abuse. As such, it is extremely difficult to prosecute someone for cyberbullying. This, coupled with the fact that politicians are unwilling to speak out about the issue, means that this dangerous form of personal harassment is almost certainly going to get worse before it gets better.