Cork politicians on how online abuse is becoming normalised as an occupational hazard

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

Receiving online abuse as a local representative has become so normalised that councillors accept it as part of the job as a survey finds that almost half of candidates in last year’s local elections experienced negative online behaviours during the campaign.

The study by Ireland's media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, found that 48% of the candidates in the June 2024 local elections that it polled experienced behaviours on social media ranging from abuse and intimidation to impersonation.

False information intended to damage a candidate’s reputation was the most common form of abuse (46%) along with hurtful or degrading comments (46%). Gender-based and racial slurs together made up another 36%.

Almost a quarter of local election candidates who experienced negative online behaviours during the campaign received online threats to kill or seriously harm them.

“I think we just take it as par for the course now. Instead of seeing certain behaviour as out of line, we take it as part of the job,” East Cork Councillor Ann Marie Ahern told the Irish Independent.

“I think the sad part is that we have come to accept it now rather than the person directing it understanding that we can have different opinions or views on a situation without it having to be directed at us as offensive, hateful, demeaning or abusive.”

East Cork Councillor Rory Cocking said the online commentary he received during the campaign “was not overly abusive or offensive but did crop up from time to time” while he did experience a few negative incidents on doorsteps. “Strangely as a first-time candidate I was prepared to receive more of such behaviour than I actually did,” he said.

Fermoy Councillor Peter O’Donoghue says he has received online abuse from both sides of the political spectrum but nothing that has made him fearful for himself or his family.

“I've experienced plenty of derogatory comments and abuse. You can get messaging in the middle of the night, private messaging saying "F*** you" and this kind of language. I wouldn't engage with these people, I would just block them because life's too short to be listening to that,” the independent councillor said.

He said one issue in particular that has become very polarised on social media is immigration. “I would see myself in the middle ground. I would get abusive messages from both sides. You can call it the extreme right but also the extreme left.”

Cllr O’Donoghue said online abuse isn’t widely discussed among councillors. “I suppose maybe it's just an accepted part of the job, you know? There’s always going to be people out there that won't agree with you but they will disagree in a respectful way. It’s a minority that are abusive.”