Online trolling of public figures ‘should be considered a hate crime’

23 comments
  1. Millions of people fall for internet trolls every day, and if the politicians engage with them it’s on them.

    Block and ignore are things that already available.

    It’s what works best.

    Creating a law that makes it a hate crime will make people become anonymous even further if they really do want to troll.

  2. Nope.

    As much as the likes of Tattle gets shat on, even the slightest bit of constructive criticism or disagreement with any of the instahunz will get you blocked so I can understand why people would want to discuss people because they are the business, in the same way you could go to a hotel, have a bad time and leave a review outlining why.

  3. Currently in Australia and they’re pushing real hard to push a similar bill through here too.

  4. I think they’re forgetting that words are the alternative to violence. Isn’t that what politics is?

    Trolling can mean literally anything, it’s how I would describe Fine Gael’s phobia to governance and reliance on bullshit.

    When they talk about a delicate balance they have no intention of erring on the side of caution or not trying to gain as much control as possible.

  5. No – This sounds like it could be the start of a slippery slope. “Trolling” has such a vague definition, that it could be applied to almost anything.

    Silencing the critics of public officials, is the kind of thing totalitarian governments get up to.

  6. Lol being a public figure comes this comes with the territory.

    Also not being allowed to criticize public figures (even for the small case of trolling) is a a thing that authoritarian govts do…. so fuck that shit

    How else can we challenge the public figures if not with words?…..it only leaves violence as an answer.

  7. “Online trolling of public figures should be considered a public service.”

    Someone want to forward the fixed headline onto the Examiners editor?

  8. Trolling isnt necessarily crimeworthy its most of the time taking the piss. Death threats, racist/sexist/blatent abuse and being a vile bastard are a different story entirely.

    The problem is how you define it, going after those who are constantly griefing, harrasing and abusing people online would not be out of line but the problem is if the law is written badly or incorrectly to supress legitimate criticism or sarcasm of an issue is where the problems start.

  9. Does this mean I’ll have to stop tweeting Claire Byrne asking her does the thought of Covid get her in the mood?

  10. I don’t see any significant group in the country actually fighting proposals like this though? Some form of it is almost inevitable.

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