First Stage Stage in the legislative process — click for what it means Lapsed The bill’s status — click for what it means 32nd Dáil The House currently handling the bill 5/2017 Official bill number / year
Harmful Communications and Digital Safety Bill 2017
- Sponsor
- Jonathan O'Brien · Sinn Féin
- Introduced
- 25 Jan 2017
- Last updated
- 13 Feb 2020
What this bill does AI · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001
- Consolidates harmful communications offences by repealing Post Office (Amendment) Act 1951 and section 10 of Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, replacing them with new offences covering all communication types including digital.
- Creates new criminal offences: distributing intimate images without consent (up to 7 years imprisonment); taking/distributing intimate images without consent (up to 6 months); and sending menacing messages (up to 7 years imprisonment).
- Introduces stalking as separate offence from harassment, extends protection to online communications including fake profiles, provides 2-year prosecution time limit, and grants courts power to restrict contact and approach orders.
Stage timeline What do these stages mean?
- First Stage 32nd Dáil25 Jan 2017
Debates
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