11-year-old Zach Eagling suffers from epilepsy and was sadly targeted by trolls online. Zach was sent flashing messages that would sadly trigger seizures, at a time when he was bravely completing an impressive 130 laps of his garden without his walking frame. His family were always hopeful that a new law would be passed to end this online abuse.
Claire Keer, Zach's mum has been relentlessly campaigning to ensure that online abusers are prosecuted under what is now known as ‘Zach's Law.’
Dean has been championed Zach’s law for a number of years alongside parliamentary colleagues. After catching up with Zach in Parliament, Dean said, 'I was pleased from the outset when the Government confirmed that they would seek to introduce new laws to protect people online. I would like to pay tribute to Zach, his family and charities including The Epilepsy Society for their tireless hard work and for running such a positive campaign.
Zach is a true inspiration and is selflessly making a massive difference for so many people with epilepsy. What a hero!
Zach's Law is an important law which has now made it an offence to troll people with epilepsy by sending flashing images online'.
Nathan Draper from the Epilepsy Society said "This week has been a huge turning point for the Zach’s Law campaign. Firstly, on Tuesday, Zach met with MPs from all major parties, including Dean, to thank them for their continued support. Then, on Wednesday, the Government published their amendment to the Online Safety Bill to criminalise epilepsy trolling – aka Zach’s Law.
“None of this would have been possible without Dean’s tireless campaigning. He sat on two important Committees which scrutinised the Bill line by line. Throughout this process he was a powerful advocate for Zach’s Law both in the Committee hearings and in the House of Commons. Dean’s passion for the cause unquestionably helped to push Zach’s Law up the political agenda. And he showed such personal kindness when he met with Zach and his mum, both in Parliament and at Conservative party conference. Zach’s Law would not be on the verge of success without his campaigning.”
