Garda sergeants and inspectors have raised concerns about so-called ‘citizen journalists’ who, they say, specialise in trying to provoke gardaí while they are being filmed.
The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said the practice of Garda members being targeted, including by people live streaming, had a potentially serious impact on them.
It also meant gardaí could be reluctant to use force, even when required, because they did not want to be filmed and the footage edited and distributed in a manner intended to damage them.
AGSI says citizen journalists – at times associated with the far-right and disinformation in the State – have become so prolific that members of the force need clear directions on how to deal with them as well as “legal protections” and internal supports.
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Insp Amanda Flood, based in Dublin’s north inner city, said citizen journalists often targeted policing situations that were “pressurised, emotionally charged and potentially volatile” with the sole intent of “antagonising” gardaí “to illicit a response” while filming.
“They then clip that response and put it online in the hope of it going viral,” she said, adding it was a widespread problem.
“They have been in (Garda) members’ faces and it takes a toll on them personally and also on their families.”
Once the clips had been published online, gardaí depicted in the clips were identified by social media users and were often named online, with some of their other personal information shared. While some Garda members had received media training, she said there was no training for members of the force in dealing with “the aftermath of citizen journalists”.
Insp Flood said while members of the public were entitled to expect transparency and openness from the Garda, Agsi’s concerns centred on the deliberate efforts being made to antagonise gardaí for the sole purposes of creating potentially viral online content.
There were no protections against being filmed while on duty and Insp Flood said her members wanted “clear and practical guidelines” from Garda Headquarters about how best to handle the growing problem.
“(Gardaí) want to know what to do when they are being filmed,” she said, adding they also wanted legal protections to stop “online harassment or doxing in some cases”. AGSI also wanted Garda management to “support” members of the force who fell victim to the harassing and antagonising so-called citizen journalism.
At the annual conference of AGSI in Killarney, Co Kerry, Garda sergeants and inspectors representing three Garda divisions – Dublin Metropolitan Region North, Tipperary and Laois-Offaly – proposed a motion on citizen journalism for debate.
It called for “clear and robust policies” designed to “minimise exposure to abuse through social media”. However, it said any measures in the area must also ensure “a balanced approach that upholds the rights of individuals” and gardaí.
Insp Flood she had experience in her own role as a supervisor in the Garda of some members being significantly impacted after being targeted. She said she believed this could result in some gardaí deciding to opt out of policing, perhaps by taking early retirement.
A review by the Policing Authority on public order policing found some members of the Garda, when faced with serious disorder, were reluctant to use force because they feared being filmed and the footage being presented in a manner that it went viral.
Insp Flood said if gardaí were reluctant to use force, this could adversely impact some members of the public, who may come at risk from aggressors.
She said some citizen journalists filmed or live streamed outside garda stations even though victims coming to report crimes there had a right to see a station as a “safe space”.
