Miss Ireland Jasmine Gerhardt has urged the government to bring in stronger cyberbullying legislation, after her horrific experience with trolls. Jasmine Gerhardt won the beauty pageant last year, with the law student unfortunately being the subject of horrific online abuse — including people setting up a fake OnlyFans page in her name, and a Twitter (X) account posting nasty comments about her. While Jasmine has admitted that she is dealing with the abuse better than when it began, she said that she’s still receiving the nasty comments — with her hoping that cyberbullying gets better regulated by the government.
‘There is still stuff being written about me online and it is horrible but I kind of deal with it a lot better than I did when it first started,’ Jasmine told the Irish Mirror . ‘I have to say though there are more nice people than there is bad so that is what I stand by. I guess when you put your life on social media you have to be ready to take the repercussions to come with it, which is unfortunate.
‘But I guess that is the price you pay for being on social media. Not everyone is going to like you..
. but don’t take it personally. But it’s not ideal.
’ Speaking on potentially tougher cyberbullying laws, Jasmine said that in college she looked into cyber protection, particularly for children during her law degree — adding that some people aren’t so lucky in dealing with cyberbullying. A post shared by Jasmine Gerhardt | MISS IRELAND (@jasgerhardt21) ‘I actually do think that kind of stuff should be way more regulated in Ireland,’ she said. ‘I feel like people have a lot to say about people they don’t even know on a platform where anyone can comment.
For some people, it is very tough and hard to cope with and it doesn’t always end well. ‘I did policy writing in college in Law School. I was looking into cyber protection, especially for young children.
There are so many kids online who are so young, and I don’t really think the Government are protecting them through legislation. It would be something I would love to look into and work on.’ Speaking after winning Miss Ireland , Jasmine said that she had previously entered the competition twice — at age 17 and 24, when she was a runner up, before getting the crown in 2023.
‘It doesn’t feel real,’ Jasmine said after her win. ‘This is my third time entering so to get it now feels like the most amazing thing ever. It really showed me that no matter how many times you are shot down you should always get back up and go for your dreams.
’ Jasmine added that she couldn’t have achieved the milestone without the help of her family, particularly her mother who had previously won Miss Ireland — saying ‘My mam was in Miss Ireland so it was always a dream of mine to be Miss Ireland. ‘I felt like even though I was knocked down when I didn’t get it so many times it was something I really wanted to do and my dream so I shouldn’t let failure determine something that I really wanted. And I wanted the role of this so I decided to give it one last go and trusted that if it was meant to be it would and thank God it was.
’ Jasmine was previously Miss Dublin Central, and is a law graduate with a Masters degree in Human Rights and European Union Law, with her previously speaking on her work with domestic abuse group Aoibhneas, which inspired her to help other women use their voices. ‘With my legal expertise, I’m fully committed to championing women’s rights and changing the lives of young women through education,’ she said. ‘I was the first in my family to go to college and I want to show women all over the world that with an education, we are unstoppable and can be transformative leaders of our future.
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