Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Michael McDowell (IND), National University of Ireland

I have to express my disappointment in relation to the Minister's continued opposition to normalising the provisions of the proposed identification order procedure in respect of costs and I do make the point, who is facilitating anonymous defamation? Who actually is doing it? I mean I cannot defame somebody that easily, anonymously, except through an Internet service provider. They are the people who are profiting from and disseminating the defamation against me. As I said on the last occasion, it is not like An Post or a telephone company being found liable for a conversation. It is very different. The other provisions of the section make it very clear that what has happened is defamation. It seems to me that the very least that an Internet service provider could do is to say at the outset, "We will consent to an order being made and will not be represented", and if that happens then it seems to me that in those circumstances the discretion that the Minister refers to is fine but if they come in and start defending the privacy of some defamer then, in my view, they are taking sides in the issue.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-21