An Irish woman whose daughter died after years of online abuse has urged the European Parliament to introduce stronger legal safeguards across the EU "so no other family will face this pain".
In a powerful address to MEPs in Strasbourg to mark International Women's Day, Jackie Fox described the bullying and abuse her daughter Nicole, known as Coco, received before she died by suicide in 2018.
"She was a vibrant, funny, bubbly young woman… But she was targeted by relentless physical and online abuse for three and a half years."
Describing the period after Nicole’s death, Ms Fox said: "I couldn’t even breathe, I was crying that much."
Ms Fox’s subsequent campaigning prompted a landmark change to Irish law, leading to the introduction of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020.
Widely known as Coco’s Law, the legislation criminalises serious online harassment and the sharing of intimate images without consent. At least 240 prosecutions have been brought since the law was enacted.
Now, Ms Fox is calling for similar legislation to be rolled out across the EU.
"Coco’s Law is bigger than one country", she told MEPs. "Protect every adult and child before it’s too late."
"Please let Nicole’s story be the reason we change the future."
She also touched on the issue of AI-altered intimate images being shared online, saying they were making the problem "worse and worse".
"There needs to be a law to prosecute people who think it's okay to share an intimate image of someone or to change someone's face or remove their clothes."
"The (Irish) Government have said that they're not going to oppose amending Coco's Law to include AI images now, which is brilliant, but the rest of Europe needs to do the same."
'One of Europe's heroines’
After concluding her speech, Ms Fox received a standing ovation from MEPs in the chamber, with some appearing visibly moved by her story.
European Parliament President, Roberta Metsola, described her as "one of Europe's heroines".
"The loss of a child is beyond what most of us can even begin to imagine. But what you then chose to do with that grief - to stand up, to speak out and to fight so that no other family would ever have to go through what yours did - that is heroism."
Speaking to RTÉ News after her address to parliament, Ms Fox reflected on the huge response to her story.
"I so struggle with the word ‘pride’ because I shouldn't have to do any of this. But seeing the standing ovation, tears in their eyes - it just means that they're empathetic. They see what I've done and most of all, every single person that walked out of that room knows who my little girl is."
"She's in their heart or she's in their head, and that's so important to me."
