‘Time to tackle graphic posters and falsehoods’
REFERENDUM and election posters should have to comply with minimum legal standards to avoid ‘graphic imagery and false messaging’, Fine Gael TD Hildegarde Naughton has said.
The chair of the Oireachatas Communications Committee said she accepted that legal standards for posters would be ‘unprecedented’ for Ireland.
She pointed specifically to the graphic posters which appeared outside maternity hospitals and the appearance of some of the posters outside schools, describing these as ‘insensitive’ and ‘inappropriate’ moves.
She said that legislation should be considered and that the issue needs ‘some consideration... perhaps on an all-party basis’.
‘While opposing groups engaged in respectful debate throughout the recent campaign for the most part, I was struck by the often disrespectful images and messaging that could be seen on posters around the country,’ she said.
‘I was particularly struck by the posters that were put up or held by demonstrators outside maternity hospitals. This was a particularly insensitive move and showed a complete lack of respect for women attending these hospitals who may have been receiving bad news or hearing about issues with their pregnancy.
‘The posters were also deeply upsetting to women across the country who have travelled abroad for terminations.’
Ms Naughton said she would ‘never call for anything that would restrict democracy and freedom of speech’, but she believes this matter does need some consideration by the Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government, ‘which covers electoral matters’.
It follows the Irish Daily Mail’s report last week that Health Minister Simon Harris is considering the introduction of exclusion zones around ‘abortion hubs’, where abortions will be performed, to prevent protesters from targeting women. In parts of the US, it is common for anti-abortion protesters to picket abortion clinics.
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