‘Digital mobbing’ - Government senator said Speaker was dehumanised online

Government Senator Dr Elon Thompson has accused some persons online of carrying out what he described as a “digital mobbing” of Speaker of the House of Representatives Juliet Holness in the wake of the kerfuffle over the removal of the mace by Opposition MP Angela Brown-Burke and her subsequent suspension from the sitting by the presiding officer.

Contributing to debate on the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2026, Thompson said the Speaker, like every public official, was not above criticism, and Jamaicans had the right to question her rulings, examine her conduct in the Chamber and to hold those who preside over Parliament to a high standard.

However, he said commentary and discourse online had descended into ridicule, bullying, personal attacks, edited visuals, distorted representations and content that seeks to reimagine, mock and dehumanise the Speaker.

On Tuesday, Brown-Burke got up from her seat during deliberations by the committee of the whole House on the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) bill, and lifted the mace, the symbol of the Monarch’s authority over parliamentary proceedings. This triggered a sharp rebuke from Holness, who instructed the Marshal to put Brown-Burke out of the Chamber.

In his remarks on Friday, Thompson indicated that the vilifying of Speaker Holness online was “cyber bullying dressed up as political commentary”.

“If a lady holding one of the highest offices in our Parliament can be reduced online to memes, insults, caricatures and abuse because of how she presided over a difficult sitting, then we must be honest about the culture that we are building,” Thompson argued.

“Today it is the Speaker, yesterday it may have been the prime minister, today it may be a minister, an opposition member, a public servant, a journalist, a student or any Jamaican who dares to take a position on a matter of national importance,” he added.

He cautioned that some people were confusing the right to criticise with actions to humiliate.

“We must not confuse free expression with digital cruelty. We must not confuse political disagreement with a licence to strip another human being of dignity,” he said.

The Government senator urged parliamentarians and those operating in the digital space to be “firm but fair, passionate but responsible and critical but truthful”.

Thompson insisted that, while public officials and parliamentarians are not above criticism, comments to dehumanise them should not be entertained.

He urged Jamaicans to use the digital space to “deepen democracy, not to poison it”.

He made it clear that no one in public life should expect immunity from scrutiny and that the cybercrimes amendment law was not designed to protect politicians from criticism.

“Citizens must be free to criticise their leaders, challenge policy, expose wrongdoing and demand better.”

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com