Lisburn councillor hits out at "vile and nasty" Facebook posts towards his son taking part in family unionist tradition

The personal attacks were of such a high volume the DUP member says he was “encouraged” to secure his own social media to prevent further abuse.

Alderman Paul Porter said: “While being someone who is involved in politics for some 25 years, I can accept I am open season to these attacks, my family is not and to attack them is just disgusting.

“Just before the start of July I put out the Union flag and bring it back down at the end of August, it is a family tradition that was handed down to me by my father to remember the Somme and the 12th celebrations.

“So, I put a post up on Facebook of handing down the tradition to my son as a heartfelt tradition as a proud dad handing a legacy down to my own son.

“But, the vile and really nasty messages that came in was brutal. The volume of it shocked me.

“I spent most of the day deleting the messages which had directly targeted my son.”

The most up to date NI Local Government Association report shows 66% of responding councillors said they have been abused or intimidated on social media.

A Local Government Association (LGA) survey has found increasing numbers of councillors being exposed to “high volumes of vitriolic abuse and personal attacks”.

The abuse, it said, was “pushing them out of public life and creating a negative effect on democratic participation”.

Alderman Porter added: "I am a big supporter of free speech and I aim to be open and transparent as an elected representative, but as a result of this total nasty and vicious interaction I have been encouraged by loved ones to change my Facebook security settings.

“At the end of the day I have had to protect my family.

“I use social media for a lot to things, but I don’t use it to allow my family to be abused.

“Councillors are the lowest in the political food chain and they are the ones who are most accessible for abuse.

“There is a line that was crossed and it has now made me have to rethink how I interact with people on Facebook, which is sad.

“I believe in free speech, but it has to be accountable.

“Many of these attackers are hiding behind fake accounts and that’s not free speech, that’s a vehicle to allow abusive speech.”

The Meta website provides advice on handling bullying, harassment or personal attacks on Facebook by unfriending, blocking and reporting. It states: "The best protection against bullying is to learn how to recognise it and how to stop it. “Don’t retaliate. Most bullies are looking for a reaction, so don’t give them one. “Don’t keep it a secret. Talk to someone you trust, such as a close friend, family member, counsellor or teacher, who can give you the help and support you need. “Document and save. If someone has posted something you don’t like, you can print or take a screen-shot of it in case you need to share it with someone you trust later.”