Can the GAA tackle internet trolling of players?

Sports law expert Professor Jack Anderson believes the GAA has to be more understanding of the social media stresses and strains placed on inter-county players.

Earlier this week, Cork hurler Damien Cahalane’s brother defended his sibling in the wake of Twitter abuse following last Sunday’s Munster semi-final loss to Waterford.

It is the latest in a number of instances where players have been subjected to excessive criticism after results have gone against their teams.

As the law attempts to catch up on addressing the social media sphere, Queens University academic Anderson, the chairman of the Disputes Resolution Authority, says the GAA need to provide greater assistance to players.

“It’s definitely something that the GAA need to be aware of. In some ways, I’m part of the system as well but we tend to sometimes think of these things in punishing or preventing players from responding.

“We tend to go that way first instead of appreciating the pressures they’re under in terms of their social media presence and giving them assistance on this.

“Journalists might write something provocative and receive a reaction but they’re used to it. Amateur players train for six months, it didn’t work out for Cork at the weekend and players go home and when they check their phone they get this stream of abuse. That’s hard going.”

The GAA has produced social media policies and guidelines in which the association’s members are provided with a list of do’s and don’ts.

“The GAA, like many other sports organisations, tailor their social media primarily towards members and players,” Anderson says.

“What they’re saying to them is ‘watch what you’re saying online, that you don’t bring the game into disrepute and in particular watch what you say about match officials and their integrity’. But there is another step then when the players themselves are on social media and are subjected to what is essentially internet trolling. That’s a very difficult thing to control generally.

"I was just looking at figures in England last year where internet trolling is a criminal offence. Three people every day were found guilty of that offence. So it’s increased hugely over the past number of years and we see it mainly with celebrities but essentially anyone in the public eye is almost fair game.

“It’s extremely difficult to control it because almost certainly it will come from an anonymous account which is then closed very quickly and the person simply moves on.”

That was exactly the situation in Cahalane’s case where a Twitter account was created with a pseudonym specifically to target abuse at the player.

Until such time as the law and the social media companies find a means of cracking down on such behaviour, Anderson argues education of players is the only means of dealing with this growing and unwelcome phenomenon.

“There’s two broad legal points to make: when something’s written down, it’s potentially defamatory but of course it takes a long time to pursue a case and it’s expensive. Last year, for example, certain English soccer players got extreme online abuse. They’re well paid and well insulated but GAA players are part of their community and it really can cut them to the quick.

“Well paid footballers will be able to mount legal defences quicker. They would be able to get an injunction or whatever they need quicker than an amateur player who wouldn’t have those resources.

“There’s also a general issue that there is no such thing as privacy anymore particularly for the younger generation. Social media is so concessional now and so much goes on there that it’s a difficult ball game.

“The law is just catching up with it.

“I’m sure the GPA is aware of the need to educate players that they’re going to get this type of abuse. Twenty years ago, it was abuse from the stands. Your family might be sitting there and it’s hard for them to take it as well.

“Now it can come at any time over the internet and it’s something that players need to be trained in because what tends to happen is because they can strike back and write something that they regret.

“Because they are in the public eye, they could receive even more abuse for doing that. It’s very difficult for players in that sense.”

Anderson accepts for the time being there is only so much that the law and the likes of Twitter and Facebook can do. “For the social media companies, on one hand, you have freedom of speech and you could take that to whatever level you want to. On the other hand, you have this gross, personal abuse and it’s very difficult to regulate.

“You can educate players in their privacy settings and all that but it is difficult when there is a flow of abuse and it’s a family member of the player and they have to take that.

“When someone identifiable has been grossly abusive, the law is okay on that but with these anonymous and moving targets it’s very difficult. Even from a regulator’s view like the GAA in this case, if someone is giving a GAA member abuse and they’re not a GAA member then there is very little the GAA can do.

“All you can do is protect your own first and advise them. It is difficult to ascertain the law’s reaction to it and how useful it can be in an immediate way.”