Taoiseach slams 'horrific' abuse on Jamey Carney's social media and says platforms must act

TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has slammed “filthy” and “horrific” posts left on the social media accounts of Jamie Carney, the US woman who was murdered in Killarney last week. 

Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly raised the matter in the Dáil on Tuesday, saying that “unregulated and unmonitored abuse” has been directed towards Jamie Carney on her accounts, and asked if the Taoiseach had any comment on it being “allowed”. 

Martin said that the murder of Carney was “appalling and horrific,” and that the suffering of her family has been “compounded and exacerbated” by the material that Daly described. 

He said that social media platforms have “obligations” and that they must now “act quickly” to remove abusive material. 

The Journal asked Meta on Monday if the company, which runs Instagram and Facebook, planned to take action in relation to the abusive material. The company indicated it would not be taking mass action, such as making her account private or bulk-removing comments. 

Instead, it said that comments left on a profile that violate the platform’s guidelines including bullying, harassment and hate speech “can be reported [by individual users] and will be removed if they are found to be in breach”. 

The company did not respond when asked what its policy was on closing comments on the accounts of deceased persons. 

Thousands of comments have been left by social media users on Carney’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. 

On both accounts she had recently posted pictures of herself and Ahmad Al-Saqar, the Jordanian man who was her boyfriend, and who is the main person of interest in the murder case.

Al-Saqar has been detained in his native Jordan after fleeing Ireland after Carney’s death, before her body was discovered by gardaí. 

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She also shared posts about her life with her daughter, and activism work she was involved with, including attending protests in support of Palestinian people, and in opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza. 

Both Carney’s Instagram and Facebook profiles are public, meaning that anyone can comment. 

At the time of writing, her last Instagram post – a photo of Carney with Al-Saqar – has over 2,280 comments, many of which are insulting, mocking and abusive. 

“It’s hard to sympathise because she did this to herself,” one comment reads, which has over 200 likes. The user has US flags in their bio and posts strongly political content.  

Other comments focus on Carney’s views; one poster has written “how’s that free Palestine working out” in a comment that’s been liked over 3,600 times. 

These two comments were posted five and six days ago respectively. 

The Journal has asked Coimisiún na Meán if any action is being taken in respect of abusive material posted on Carney’s social media profiles. 

The 43-year-old mother of one was found dead, having sustained severe head injuries, in her home on the Muckross Road in Killarney on 7 July. 

She had lived in the county for a number of years with her 13-year-old daughter. 

Her funeral is due to take place on Wednesday in Killarney, where a mass will commence at St Mary’s Cathedral at midday. 

Many people have left tributes to her and messages of condolence for her family on RIP.ie. 

On a GoFundMe page set up by the family to garner support for funeral and travel costs, Carney’s sister Devon Bennett describes her as “an insanely caring human being, who dedicated so much of herself, her energy, and her time, to fighting for the rights of others”.