Presidential candidate takes action over online 'smears'

Jim Gavin described personal allegations about himself, his famliy and friends as "malicious" misinformation

An Irish presidential election candidate has sent legal letters to social media firms after "smears" of a "very personal nature" were posted about him online.

Jim Gavin said the "vicious" posts included misinformation about himself, his family and friends and the claims were "potentially politically motivated".

He said online misinformation had "become normalised" in society and he was "going to make a stand" by contacting media regulators and social media platforms.

Gavin said Facebook and Instagram's parent company, Meta, and has since removed the posts from its platforms and he now wants X and TikTok to do the same.

The 54-year-old Dubliner was chosen by the Fianna Fáil party to be its presidential candidate earlier this month for an election which is just weeks away.

Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTÉ, Mr Gavin did not repeat the detail of the allegations in the social media posts, but he described them as abusive.

"For me - whatever about it being against myself - when my family come into it and my friends, I'm going to make a stand," he said.

"This has been in some ways normalised in society that one can use misinformation, use abuse online, without any consequences."

He added that Ireland's independent media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, has "substantial powers" and he was interested to see what action it will take.

BBC News NI understands Meta has removed a number of posts relating to Gavin for violating its standards.

According to TikTok, Gavin's letter of complaint was sent to an old address so it did not immediately come to the firm's attention, but it is now investigating the matter.

'Shocking that people can invent stories'

Jim Gavin with Micheál Martin (left) in early September after he was announced as the Fianna Fáil party's candidate in the Irish presidential race

The Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin was asked about the issue during his visit to the UN General Assembly in New York.

"It's absolutely shocking that people can invent stories," Martin told the Irish Daily Mirror.

"I think those stories have two million views."

The taoiseach added that in his own experience, social media firms "put citizens through too many hurdles to get invented stories and untruths stopped".

Martin said misinformation on social media "affects the conduct of elections" and he intends to meet other Irish party leaders to discuss the issue.

In an earlier statement, Gavin said there was a "real and growing threat posed by online hate and disinformation".

"I refuse to accept that the price of participating in public life should involve putting your family and friends through waves of online abuse and malicious smears.

"This is not the cost of service – it is a failure of our digital culture," his statement added.

Gavin also vowed to take "whatever action is necessary to confront this appalling feature of social media".

Who is Jim Gavin?

Gavin is a former Irish military pilot and a current aviation expert but he is best known for his successes as a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) football manager.

He managed the Dublin men's team from 2012 to 2019, when it won six All Ireland Senior Football Championship titles - five of which were back-to-back victories.

He had 20-year career in the Irish Air Corps and was later appointed as Chief Operations Officer of the Irish Aviation Authority.

Gavin is currently one of three candidates who are vying to replace the outgoing Irish President Micheal D Higgins as the country's head of state.

So far, his competition includes two high-profile female politicians - Heather Humphreys and Catherine Connolly.

Humphreys, who previously held three different ministerial posts in the Irish Cabinet, is the candidate for the Fine Gael party.

Connolly, a trained barrister and clinical psychologist, is an independent member of the Dáil (Irish Parliament) who served as its deputy speaker for four years.

She has secured the backing of Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit, and the Greens.

The presidential election is due to take place on 24 October.

On Tuesday, the Irish Times newspaper reported that a man who wants to set up a new political party in Ireland was behind the social media posts about Gavin.

The paper added it had contacted the social media user but he "declined to share any evidence for the claims" against Gavin.