MORE THAN 50 incidents of politically motivated violence, threats, harassment, targeting and smears against political candidates or their canvassers have been documented in the weeks leading up to the general election.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which studies extremism, hate and disinformation, and the Hope and Courage Collective, a civil society organisation working against hate and extremism, have released a joint investigation on violent activity identified in the five-week period ahead of the general election.

Roderic O’Gorman, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, Monica Peres Oikeh, Mary Lou McDonald, Paul Murphy, Umar Al-Qadri, Mary Butler, Pearse Doherty and Helen McEntee were among the candidates who were targeted by hate or harassment. 

In total, the investigation documented 55 incidents. Six (11%) of these occurred in person, 30 (55%) occurred online, and 19 (35%) included by offline and online elements, such as uploading videos of candidates being subjected to harassment or verbal abuse while canvassing.

The investigation identified the use of explicit racist, misogynistic and anti-Muslim slurs used in harassment and targeted acts of hate against women and against candidates with a migrant background.

“During the past weeks, we’ve watched candidates and canvassers be harassed, threatened and verbally abused. Most concerning is the large degree to which social media and online platforms feature in such incidents,” said Ciarán O’Connor, a senior analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

“As we noted in June, there is again a significant online and offline interplay, in which acts of intimidation or harassment occur offline, are filmed and then shared online to garner attention. This then has a multiplier effect of generating further cycles of abuse for those involved,” O’Connor said.

“Yet again, significant platform failings and lack of enforcement of community guidelines are enabling extremists to act with impunity, target candidates and threaten our democracy.”

The investigation documented four incidents of offline violence and 13 incidents of offline harassment, intimidation, and/or verbal abuse of candidates or canvassers. 

One of these was the assault on Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman while he was canvassing in Dublin.

Other documented incidents included coffee being thrown on a candidate, canvassers allegedly being threatened with a brick, and multiple incidents of verbal abuse of various candidates and their canvassers.

There were also seven incidents recorded of damage to candidates’ property, such as constituency offices.

Online, the most prominent platforms where harassment occurred were X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok.

This included 11 incidents of online threats, harassment and hate directed towards candidates or canvassers and 20 incidents of hostile language expressed by candidates towards other elected politicians or smear campaigns initiated against candidates.

The investigators have said that the level of violence and harassment before the general election was not as high as had been expected after the local elections earlier this year, though the incidents were still “serious”.

Edel McGinley, executive director of the Hope and Courage Collective, said that it is “extremely worrying that 89% of all incidences particularly targeting politicians, featured on social media in some form” and that the finding “raises some ongoing questions about social media platforms enforcement of community guidelines and standards and compliance with the Digital Service Act”.

“The effects of sustained and repeated harassment cannot be understated and require a robust response from social media platforms, An Garda Síochána, and the Regulators, along with a commitment in the new programme for government to address any gaps or lacunas in law to tackle this.”