Legislation needed to tackle online catfishing – Ward

The Minister for Justice needs to implement new laws to make online catfishing illegal, a Fine Gael Deputy has said.

Deputy Barry Ward, Fine Gael TD for Dún Laoghaire, said the practice of catfishing, which was brought to national attention following the revelations of the GAA Catfish on the Two Johnnies Podcast, is increasingly widespread.

Deputy Ward said: “It is an incredible situation that, despite prominent stories like the GAA Catfish, catfishing remains legal in Ireland.

“As technology improves with increasingly convincing AI imagery, it is time to act to make legislation that clearly defines catfishing in law; makes the practice illegal, and punishes people who catfish. As it stands, there is no law to prevent catfishing so there is nothing to dissuade any individual from this damaging behaviour.

“The potential damage that catfishing can have on victims is enormous. Two groups are affected: people who are duped by a fake profile; and the individuals whose images and personal details are stolen to create these fake profiles. The emotional distress that this can cause is something we need to prevent.

“We need to be much more proactive and tackle this head on. We need the law to catch up with technology and protect victims of this horrendous practice.

“It is clear that existing laws are not sufficient and do not act as a deterrent. I want to work with the Minister for Justice to progress legislation that specifically makes catfishing an offence and I plan to progress my own Private Members Bill in the coming months”, concluded Deputy Ward.