Justice and democracy at risk - Dangers in a world that has moved online

THAT the internet age has disrupted, to put it politely, traditional economic activities such as retail, clerical work, and publishing is well known, as are the adverse consequences for employment and prosperity. We are seeing now how the unmediated and unregulated online world can also threaten other parts of our lives that as a society we value and have worked to protect: Justice and democracy.

A juror in the Belfast rape trial has posted online comments about the case, and the name of the defendant has been published online — both of which are criminal offences in Ireland and the UK. Following the controversy in the UK about the extent to which Facebook data might or might not have been used to sway the Brexit vote this way or that, we learn that in Ireland neither the Referendum Commission nor the Standards in Public Office Commission have the power to police social media campaigns in the Eighth Amendment poll. Neither of these are trivial matters; they touch on the cornerstones, too often taken for granted and increasingly ignored in Twitterdom, of our civilisation.