Facebook campaign angers Xposé star

Shannon woman and TV3 presenter, Aisling O’Loughlin, has spoken out about her anger at a Facebook page that ridicules her. This week, she tells The Clare Champion why she feels it is important to take a stand against internet
harassment

WITH more and more cases of internet harassment coming into the public domain, TV3’s Aisling O’Loughlin has found herself at the centre of a targeted Facebook campaign.
The page she objects to is entitled ‘Get rid of Aisling O’Loughlin from Xposé!!!’ Underneath her picture on the page it says, “The most annoying woman on TV. She invades our living rooms each evening at dinner-time, with her pixie hair and manky outfits. End the scourge and get rid of Aisling 2day!!!’
Aisling said she has spoken publicly about the page to highlight the need for action against irresponsible use of the internet.
“It’s more the principle that I’m upset about rather than anything else. I’m well used to getting slagged off, as soon as you get on TV it happens, they’re talking about your appearance and whatever, I’m well used to that. As a Facebook user, I would have liked more protection and there’s an issue about the kind of activity that goes on daily on Facebook. Whatever about me, teenagers are having to face that daily and there should be more protection for the individual against that kind of thing. That’s why I decided to say something.”
She said she had been advised to speak to the gardaí about some of the negative things that had been posted on the Facebook page but while she was undecided about whether to do so or not, she felt it shouldn’t be necessary.  “That’s the advice I’ve been given, to go to the gardaí. But I don’t want it to take up my whole life. Why should you have to do that though? Surely to God, Facebook should be able to help you. Why should you have to go to those lengths? The gardaí have a very important job to do, they’re busy fighting against criminals not this kind of thing. I understand people who say ‘Oh God, have a bit of perspective and toughen up’. But that’s not the point I’m making. The point I’m making is that this stuff is going on the whole time, idle people making nasty comments on the internet, with no protection available.”
She feels that inevitably people are injured by nasty comments posted about them online. “You have to pick your battles and I felt that this was something that I wanted to stand up against. We’re supposed to be made of fecking iron in this world and we’re not. It doesn’t matter where we are, what kind of lifestyle we have or what we do. I want better protection and I’d like to see other people who use Facebook having better protection. It’s hideous activity taking place every day on the internet and there’s no protection.”
Aisling said that she herself enjoys using Facebook and that people who use it to abuse others should look at themselves.
“As a Facebook user, who enjoys using it and talking to people and all the rest, I expected better. You get it on a lot of forums that are there to have a bash at you if that’s what people want to do. But I expected better from them.
“For me, it’s a way of lifting a mirror towards people involved in this activity so that they’ll have a good look at themselves and to say to them what do you really think? Do you think that’s good behaviour? Really, bashing my appearance, saying she’s vicious looking and she shouldn’t be on TV, that’s outrageous behaviour, that’s disgusting behaviour. “Surely to God there’s a better cause for them to be working on than trying to bring me down. What the hell have I done? I talk about hair and make-up and a bit of fashion. It’s rotten behaviour, it’s not on and it shouldn’t be tolerated.”
She feels that carelessness rather than real nastiness might be the reason for the nasty comments. “I don’t think they’re bad people who’re doing it, they’re just not thinking. I think it goes on all the time but you know what it does matter what goes up there. But you know what, it does matter. Whatever about for me, for other people too it matters and people need to think twice before they do it.”
She said that management at TV3 had been helpful. “I’ve had great support from TV3, they’ve been really lovely about the whole thing. They’ve always been very good employers and very supportive. They just wanted to make sure that I was ok and that I was happy and it wasn’t having a bad effect on me. That’s what I want too, I want to get on with my life, but this kind of thing is disgusting.”