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Cyberbullying is not one general criminal offence in Ireland. Depending on what happened, a communication or pattern of conduct may fall under offences concerning threatening or grossly offensive communications, persistent harassment, stalking, or threats to kill or cause serious harm. Each offence has specific legal tests. An upsetting, cruel or offensive post is not automatically criminal: the words, context, repetition, intent or recklessness, and impact all matter.
Is cyberbullying illegal in Ireland?
Sometimes, but there is no single Irish offence called “cyberbullying” that automatically covers every mean post, argument or unwanted message. Irish law instead addresses particular conduct through several offences. A single threatening communication, a sustained campaign of contact, a pattern that amounts to stalking, and a threat intended to be believed may raise different legal questions.
That distinction matters because a person’s experience of harm and the legal test are not identical. A post can be deeply distressing without meeting the elements of a criminal offence. Conversely, conduct carried out through messages, social media or other online means can be relevant to an offence if the statutory requirements are met. Assessment depends on the exact communications, their context, whether the conduct was repeated, the person’s state of mind, and the effect on the person targeted.
The main routes discussed below come from the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 and the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, as amended. They can overlap: it is not always a choice between exactly one offence and another.
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Which Irish offences may apply to online conduct?
The table compares the principal legal routes. It is a guide to the different statutory tests, not a way to decide a particular case from a label alone.
| Legal route | Conduct and mental element | Impact, repetition and communications about someone |
|---|---|---|
| Threatening or grossly offensive communication: 2020 Act, section 4 | Sending a threatening or grossly offensive communication to someone, or distributing or publishing one about someone, with intent through that act to cause harm. | No persistence requirement is stated in section 4. The Act’s definition of intent to cause harm concerns intentionally seriously interfering with the other person’s peace and privacy or causing alarm or distress. The “about” route applies to distributing or publishing. |
| Harassment: 1997 Act, section 10, as amended | Persistent acts, including persistent communication with or about a person, carried out intentionally or recklessly with the legally specified effect. | Persistence is required. The conduct must seriously interfere with peace and privacy, or cause alarm, distress or harm, and a reasonable person would realise it would have that effect. |
| Stalking: 1997 Act, section 10, as amended in 2023 | A pattern of acts carried out intentionally or recklessly, which may include online conduct. | The statutory impact is fear of violence against the person or a connected person, or serious alarm or distress with a substantial adverse impact on usual day-to-day activities. A reasonable person must realise the acts would cause that result. |
| Threat to kill or cause serious harm: 1997 Act, section 5 | A threat, made without lawful excuse by any means, to kill or cause serious harm to the recipient or a third person, with intent that the other person believe it will be carried out. | The central test is the nature of the threat and the intent that it be believed. The section is not limited to online communications. |
The summary reflects the relevant Acts and amendments: section 4 of the 2020 Act; section 10 of the 1997 Act as amended by the 2020 and 2023 legislation; and section 5 of the 1997 Act. Where a table gives a simplified description, the exact statutory wording and the facts remain important.
When can a threatening or grossly offensive message be an offence?
Section 4 of the 2020 Act
Section 4 covers two kinds of communication: one sent to another person, and one distributed or published about another person. The communication must be threatening or grossly offensive, and the sender or publisher must act with intent, by sending, distributing or publishing it, to cause harm. A communication does not become an offence under this section merely because someone considers it rude, offensive or upsetting; the communication category and intent requirement both matter.
The Act defines intent to cause harm in terms of intentionally seriously interfering with the other person’s peace and privacy, or causing alarm or distress. In the statutory words, section 4(1) says: “A person who— (a) by any means— (i) distributes or publishes any threatening or grossly offensive communication about another person, or (ii) sends any threatening or grossly offensive communication to another person, and (b) with intent by so distributing, publishing or sending to cause harm, is guilty of an offence.”
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One message versus a repeated pattern
A single communication may need to be considered under section 4 if it meets that section’s requirements. Harassment and stalking, by contrast, concern a pattern or persistence and have their own impact tests. Repeated messages do not automatically amount to either offence: the relevant statutory elements must still be established.
What counts as harassment under Irish law?
Section 10 of the 1997 Act
Harassment under section 10 requires persistent conduct. The 2020 Act expressly extended the provision to persistent communication “with or about” a person, so the statutory route is not confined to direct messages sent to the person targeted. The conduct must intentionally or recklessly seriously interfere with the person’s peace and privacy, or cause alarm, distress or harm. In addition, a reasonable person must realise that the conduct would have that effect.
“Recklessly” is not the same as a person simply failing to anticipate that someone might dislike a message. It is part of the legal test to be applied to the facts. Likewise, an unpleasant exchange is not necessarily persistent harassment just because it involves more than one communication. The repeated acts, their context and their impact must be considered together.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteSection 10 was revised again by the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023, which sets out harassment and stalking separately. For current descriptions of the offences, it is important to use the revised section rather than rely only on the original 1997 wording. Courts can make orders restricting communication or approach.
How is stalking different from harassment?
Stalking is a distinct offence under section 10, introduced by the 2023 amendment. It can involve online conduct as part of a pattern, but repeated contact alone does not establish stalking. The law sets a specific threshold for the effect on the person targeted and a separate reasonable-person test.
The conduct must intentionally or recklessly cause the other person, either when the acts occur or when that person becomes aware of them, to experience one of two outcomes:
- Fear of violence against themselves or a connected person; or
- Serious alarm or distress that has a substantial adverse impact on their usual day-to-day activities.
A reasonable person must realise that the acts would cause the relevant result. The reference to when the person becomes aware of the conduct is important where acts are not immediately known to them. Whether a particular pattern meets the statutory threshold depends on its full circumstances; it should not be labelled stalking solely because messages recur.
What if someone threatens to kill or seriously harm a person?
Section 5 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 addresses a threat to kill or cause serious harm. It applies where a person, without lawful excuse, makes a threat by any means intending that the other person believe it will be carried out. The threatened victim may be the person receiving the threat or a third person.
This is a serious offence, distinct from the section 4 offence concerning threatening or grossly offensive communications. The tests are not interchangeable: section 5 focuses on the threat to kill or cause serious harm and the intention that it be believed; section 4 focuses on the specified communication and intent to cause harm as the 2020 Act defines it.
The maximum penalty on conviction on indictment under section 5 is ten years’ imprisonment; the section also specifies summary penalties. If a threat suggests immediate danger, contact emergency services rather than waiting to resolve the legal classification first.
Does online-safety regulation make cyberbullying criminal?
No. The Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 includes online content that constitutes specified offences within its harmful-online-content framework. The official text identifies content amounting to threats under section 5 of the 1997 Act and harassment under section 10. This links aspects of online-safety regulation to existing criminal offences; it does not turn every instance of cyberbullying into a crime.
Platform or online-safety regulation and criminal law have different roles. The existence of the regulatory framework does not replace the statutory tests for an offence or establish that a particular post is unlawful. Whether content falls within an offence still depends on the offence’s elements and the facts.
Can hate-related aggravation matter?
It can, where the statutory conditions are met. The Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024 came into force on 31 December 2024, according to the Department of Justice. The Department describes protected characteristics that include race, colour, nationality, religion, national or ethnic origin, descent, disability, gender, sex characteristics and sexual orientation.
Hate-related aggravation is not a standalone shortcut that makes every hateful or offensive remark an offence. The underlying conduct must first satisfy the requirements of an offence, and the statutory conditions for the hate-related provision must also be met. The presence of hostility or a reference to a protected characteristic should therefore be recorded as context, not treated by itself as proof of a crime.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What should you do about online threats or harassment?
1. Deal with immediate danger first
If you believe someone is in immediate danger, contact emergency services. For conduct that is not an immediate emergency, An Garda Síochána accepts reports. Garda guidance recognises credible threats of violence and campaigns of harassment as potentially unlawful and connects them with the relevant offences. A report is a way to bring the conduct to the authorities’ attention, not a guarantee of a particular investigative or prosecutorial outcome.
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2. Preserve the original material if it is safe
As a practical step, keep the original messages and relevant context where possible. Useful details may include the message or post itself, its URL, the date, the account identifier and surrounding communications that help show what happened. This is general practical advice, not a statutory evidence-preservation checklist or a guarantee that material will prove an offence. Do not put yourself at risk to gather it.
3. Make a clear, factual report
When explaining events, a chronological account can make a complicated pattern easier to understand. Note what was sent or published, when it happened, whether it was repeated, how the person or account is identified, and why you are concerned. Separate what you directly saw from what you infer. If the conduct appears to involve a specific threat, explain the exact words and any context that helps convey why it felt credible.
4. Avoid escalating or spreading the material
Do not confront the sender if doing so could increase risk, and do not repost harmful material publicly to expose the person. Public reposting can spread the content further and may strip away context. If you need help handling a report or assessing legal options, a solicitor can advise on the particular facts.
What does the prosecution figure tell us?
In a 2024 review announcement, the Department of Justice said that almost 100 cases had been prosecuted under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 over the review period. The Department also said charges from An Garda Síochána had increased year on year. “Almost 100” is a prosecution figure for that review period: it is not a conviction count, an annual rate, a count of reports, or an estimate of how common online abuse is.
Those figures show that the 2020 Act has been used in prosecutions, but they do not determine whether an individual communication meets section 4 or another offence. That question remains dependent on the particular statutory elements and evidence.
Where to get case-specific advice
This article explains the general framework and is not legal advice about any individual situation. The legal route may depend on details that are not apparent from a short description, such as the precise wording, the relationship between the people, repetition, intent or recklessness, and the impact. A solicitor can advise on how Irish law applies to a person’s circumstances. If there is immediate danger, contact emergency services.
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