End the scandal of online abuse
The House of Commons returns today after the party conference recess, tragically minus one of its number. The murder of Sir David Amess at his constituency surgery in Essex on Friday has deprived the legislature of a fine and most assiduous MP. While his family and friends mourn their loss, his colleagues at Westminster will be aware of a yawning gap on their green benches. Understandably, they will also be concerned for their own safety given that Sir David was the second MP to be killed in similar circumstances in five years.
After the murder of Jo Cox in 2016, new protocols were put in place to enhance the security of MPS at Westminster, but they are especially vulnerable in their constituencies attending weekly surgeries. Security measures, such as pre-booked meetings, have already been introduced and there will doubtless be moves to provide MPS with either bodyguards or a police presence to ensure they can continue with their duties unmolested.
Yet most MPS wish to continue with face-to-face meetings as a means of keeping in contact with their voters. The constituency-based electoral system provides a direct connection between the MP and the public. However, their accessibility encourages the nastiest elements in society to believe they are also fair game for all manner of insults and abuse.
As Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, observed yesterday, the anonymity enjoyed by users of social media exacerbates the problem. People can hide behind what they imagine to be an impenetrable screen to abuse and threaten others in a way they never would if they could be easily identified. This is not, of course, confined to MPS but the divisive and often poisonous nature of modern political discourse leaves them particularly susceptible to this sort of behaviour.
It is impossible to make hundreds of millions of people using anonymous social media accounts change their habits, and the great majority behave lawfully and responsibly. Moreover, Ms Patel is right to say that any measures in this area, which involves free speech, need to be proportionate. But it is possible to track down the perpetrators of the most egregious examples of criminal abuse. Threatening someone’s life is a serious offence. A few high-profile prosecutions followed by appropriate punishments meted out by the courts might help discourage some of the worst excesses.