Youth Par­lia­men­tar­i­ans de­bat­ing the need for cy­ber­bul­ly­ing leg­is­la­tion yes­ter­day turned to re­al-world events for em­pha­sis, point­ing to the death threats re­cent­ly made against Op­po­si­tion Sen­a­tor Dr Amery Browne as proof of how quick­ly on­line abuse can es­ca­late.

Last week­end, Browne re­port­ed re­ceiv­ing ex­plic­it death threats on Face­book, in­clud­ing mes­sages tar­get­ing his chil­dren.

The is­sue sur­faced dur­ing a con­tri­bu­tion from St George’s Col­lege stu­dent Ris­hon Warn­er at the Na­tion­al Youth Par­lia­ment De­bate. Rep­re­sent­ing Port-of-Spain South, Warn­er said he had been on his way to the mock sit­ting when he saw the news­pa­per sto­ry.