Politicians have been issued with advice on keeping safe online, including how to respond to threats after a canvass, “deepfake” images, racist messages and online posts that spark a protest at their home, as Election 2024 officially gets under way.
The Garda and Coimisiún na Meán, the Media Commission, has published an information pack for candidates against a backdrop of the toxic online environment for politicians in recent years, with many sustaining often serious abuse.
The results of UCD research, released earlier this year, found that 73 per cent of TDs and Senators who responded to a survey frequently experienced abuse on social media and 22 per cent occasionally.
The issue of politicians’ safety came to the fore again this week after Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman was assaulted while canvassing in his Dublin West constituency last weekend. A 45-year-old man has pleaded guilty to assaulting O’Gorman and is before the courts.
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Aside from the online safety pack, an updated version of a Garda booklet on safety guidance for candidates out on the campaign trail was also released this week.
It advises candidates to avoid canvassing alone or in the dark and not to leave people behind on doors among a series of precautions.
The separate online safety information pack offers guidance on what to do when candidates are faced with harmful and/or illegal online content or behaviour. It sets out different scenarios that might arise and what steps candidates can take in response.
It also has information on the reporting channels for various different online social media platforms to use when people suspect illegal content.
It outlines Ireland’s Online Safety Framework, including legislation to protect people online that the commission has a role in enforcing, like the EU’s Digital Services Act.
The first scenario in the pack is one where a candidate is threatened by angry individuals on a canvass and notice threatening online posts later saying things like “I know where you live”.
Candidates who fear for their immediate safety are advised to contact the Garda by calling 999 or 112, and they are told that even when posts may not have a threat to life, some of the online messages could be illegal.
Before contacting Coimisiún na Meán people should report such messages to the online platform as illegal content, and the platform should remove it. If the person does not agree with the response of the platform, they can complain or appeal to them. If the platform does not respond or allow an appeal, the candidate can contact the commission as this is potentially against the rules.
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Another possible scenario is one where the politician sees a manipulated “deepfake” image of themselves showing them at a public event they did not attend and their worry that people will not know it is fake, harming their election chances.
The advice says such faked images should, under EU guidelines, be clearly labelled to indicate that is what they are.
This is under the Digital Services Act, which sets out specific guidelines that certain very large online platforms and search engines are recommended to follow to mitigate risks to elections.
Candidates are advised to report a deepfake image to the online platform first and go through its appeals process if necessary, and complain or appeal to them if they are not satisfied with the response. Again they can contact the commission if the platform does not respond or allow an appeal.
Candidates encountering racism online are also told to first report the abuse to the online platform before potentially escalating to the commission if they are not satisfied with he response.
There is also advice for a scenario where someone shares a picture of a politician’s home online and an angry group of protesters later arrive at the house. The advice is to call the Garda if the there are immediate safety fears and to report the person who shared the image of the house to the Garda as well as reporting the posts to the platform as illegal content.
Launching the information pack, Garda deputy commissioner Shauna Coxon said the Garda was working with the commission “to support our democracy by keeping people safe online during this election”.
John Evans, the Digital Services Commissioner at the commission, said it was “important that people are empowered to run as candidates in any election without being discouraged by illegal abuse or behaviour online”.
He said the hope is the information pack “will help candidates understand their rights online and where to turn to for help, if needed”.
The commission is also said to be engaging with online platforms on their preparations for the election, and Mr Evans added: “We expect them to play their part in ensuring that people can make free, fair and informed choices about where to cast their vote”.
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