EVERYONE knows there is a problem, but at last someone has suggested a solution. The only hope is that the political parties are listening.
The problem is cyber abuse – the tweets or Facebook comments that go way beyond acceptable political discourse into the realm of personal abuse. Comment on politics online, it seems, and you must be prepared to face the ugly fury of the cyber bully.
When the abuse happens, party leaders always say it will not be tolerated, but the SNP MEP Alyn Smith says they must now go further – there should be a code of conduct, he says, that bans anonymous accounts and every party should sign up to it.
One obvious drawback of the plan is that not every cyber-abuser will be a member of a party, but those who are members are likely to listen when their leadership says anonymous accounts are no longer acceptable. As for those that remain anonymous, it can be relatively easy to identify the culprit and all parties should do more to expose them.
Of course, internet abuse in Scottish politics is only one small part of a problem that exists all over the world (sadly, even the leader of the free world is guilty). But the political parties in Scotland could be doing more to tackle the problem. Condemning abuse when it happens is a start, but a code of conduct like the one Alyn Smith suggests would be a significant step forward.
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