Irish Examiner view: End anonymous abuse online

Reports of increasing abuse against female politicians have led to calls for verified identities on social media and accountability of users, but it should not have had to come to this

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys said that she supports the idea of people having verified identities on social media. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

It seems almost ludicrous at this stage of the game that our politicians have only just seemed to grasp the virulent nettle that makes up the raison d’etre of sometimes smug, but more often sickening, anonymous social media trolls.

Hiding behind the opaque cloak of namelessness and facelessness, cyberbullies and those with an axe to grind, but who will not reveal their identity for fear of either embarrassing exposure or legal peril, should have been shut down a long time ago.

Online abuse has been a fact of life for going on two decades now, when social media giants such as Twitter and Facebook came to prominence. 

Much of what these companies and their ilk have done has been positive and given people’s lives, families, businesses, and beliefs a whole new way of reaching out to a massive potential audience.

However, once people found they could use these platforms to espouse radical, abusive, and sometimes hate-filled views to that audience, or at least some of it, using the anonymity allowed by these companies, the internet soon filled up with the vile spewings and detestable untruths pedalled by parasites with nothing other than retribution or other repulsive personal, religious, sexual, or political ends in mind.

It is obvious that the obscurity afforded to those elements of society who wish to peddle falsehoods, misogyny, religious, and/or personal or cultural hatred only fuels the fervour of these people and emboldens them further.

Calls for social media platforms to change their rules will be welcomed by many and rightly so; others will demur, chirruping on about freedom of speech and human rights, but that is to miss the point of vicious, unattributed attacks on people in all walks of life.

Reports of increasing levels of abuse against female politicians have led to calls for verified identities on social media and the accountability of users, but it should not have had to come to this as the perils of anonymity and lack of culpability have been obvious for a long time.