IT is expected that those putting themselves forward in an election open themselves to public scrutiny.
But, social media now allows voters direct, and almost unfettered, access to candidates, being a valuable tool for political debate, but also leaving those who put themselves forward open to backlash, abuse and threats.
Several Jersey politicians have experienced abusive material online, while there have been concerns that the increased public scrutiny could put some off from standing.
The negative impact of social media was recently highlighted by Infrastructure Minister, Constable Andy Jehan, who told a scrutiny panel that it has cost him “sleepless nights” and impacted his health.
“It has played havoc with myself, with my family. Some of the accusations made by people who should know better is, quite frankly irresponsible,” he said, adding that it has led him to take personal legal advice.
He also warned that the negative impact of social media is “going to put off existing members” as well as “potential candidates” which is “so disappointing” ahead of the upcoming election.
In 2018, then-Infrastructure Minister Eddie Noel blamed social media attacks and the toll they were taking on his family for his decision to leave politics.
At the time, he said: “Social media has a profound affect. People do say things on social media or post them on social media that they would never say to your face. I think that has the biggest effect on our society as a whole.”
What can be done about it?
LESSONS can often by learnt from elsewhere, and one place that is tackling the issue is Wales, which is trialling a social media monitoring scheme.
Welsh Labour politician Joyce Watson recently shared how her parliament has taken measures to keep elected members and their staff safe from online threats and abuse, at the Jersey’s Women’s Parliamentary Caucus inaugural event last month.
She said it came about after the “unfortunately terrible” experiences on social media were raised during a meeting of the Welsh women’s caucus – which is similar to the one recently established on the Island.
“You couldn’t carry on like this, ” she said, explaining that they called in the parliamentary security officials that they have, as well as the police to ask what they were going to do to protect them.
“We also looked at the interparliamentary best practice, and as a consequence of all that -and I have to say some resistance – we do now have a social media monitoring scheme which is on a trial basis,” she said.
“Our social media would have been monitored by us. It would have been monitored by our staff. Some of the things on there are very unpleasant, very distressing for your staff, if not for yourself.
“That monitoring is done by a system that is recognised and there are certain thresholds that once they are reached outside of the law can be and are reported.”
“It isn’t unique to us,” said the Welsh MP. “It happens in Scotland and happens in Westminster.”
Does Jersey need its own social monitoring scheme?
Similar measures are being considered in Jersey.
Deputy Hilary Jeune said that she has been pushing for it within her role on the Diversity Forum – a parliamentary sub-committee that aims to ensure the States Assembly represents everyone on the Island.
She said: “I was triggered to do this from attending a British Islands and Mediterranean Women Parliamentarians Conference where we discussed how to retain women in politics.
“The concern was that at the time, Scotland and the UK, were about to go into elections and a high number of women had said they were stepping down from politics citing online abuse.
“I know this is the worry in the upcoming Welsh Elections also. Scotland also has a monitoring system. It was with this in mind I have pushed for this to be part of the Greffe offered to politicians.”
One States Member who has experienced significant online abuse is Deputy Inna Gardiner. In 2021, she referred comments made online towards her to the police.
She said that some of the abuse directed towards her over the years has included “racial language” and people “wishing her death”.
This behaviour is something that she said is important “not to normalise” or “allow to discourage people from standing in public office” because “Jersey benefits when a diverse range of people feel able to put themselves forward”.
In some cases, she said she was tagged directly, but in others she “only discovered the comments a week or so later” when someone told her. “That’s a strange and unsettling feeling, knowing the kind of hatred has been circulating about you and you had no idea,” she said.
The Island would benefit from its own scheme, she said, “not because it fixes everything, but because finding out soon matters”.
“It gives people a chance to respond, to get support, rather than stumbling across it by accident days later,” she said.
However she said that any approach “would need to balance protecting individuals with respecting freedom of expression”, adding that “ultimately, public debate should be robust but respectful”.
“It doesn’t get to the root of the problem”
While Housing Minister Sam Mézec has publicly spoken out about his experience with social media, he said he would not support a taxpayer-funded monitoring scheme.
He said: “Whilst there is a lot of nasty and unacceptable harassment towards public figures on social media, I don’t think that establishing a taxpayer-funded ‘freedom of speech police’ type of body is going to get to the root of the problem.
“If someone has concluded that it’s a fine and normal thing to spend their time online being vile towards strangers they perceive as being part of the establishment, sending a body representing the establishment after them will probably just entrench them.
“This kind of behaviour is a societal problem and needs a societal solution. It will be far more effective for all of us to challenge bad behaviour when we see it and make it clear that it is socially unacceptable.
“If people feel embarrassed by being challenged, they’ll eventually get the point and stop behaving like that. And that approach doesn’t cost anything. We just all need to play our part and not turn a blind eye to poor behaviour.”
Meanwhile, Treasury Minister Elaine Millar also said that she “wouldn’t support it”, adding that she suspects that employing someone to monitor States members social media accounts “wouldn’t go down well with the public”.
In her personal experience she said that she “hasn’t had a big issue” with social media. Previously she told the JEP that she doesn’t tend to use social media, and when she does, uses platforms like LinkedIn.
Instead of having a monitoring scheme, she said that the focus should be on informing people how to report abuse. “I think if we understand how to deal with offensive material such as reporting to the police that should be enough,” she said.
She added that she hasn’t heard of people experiencing issues with social media. “I’m not aware of many people having this problem and not regularly – I think a good number of members are not frequent users of social media.”
