The government has been asked to make an urgent statement to show support for media, and defend the right to free speech.
Social Democrat TD Roisin Shortall says the latest developments surrounding businessman Denis O'Brien are of grave concern to publishers of all sorts.
It follows threats by the businessman to bring legal proceedings against the satire website, Waterford Whispers, which has since deleted an article about him.
Deputy Shortall says it is also time to review the laws around publishing.
Media lawyer Sarah Kieran says the incident highlights that presenting a piece as "satire" is not a legal defence.
"What the law is that, if you publish something you have to be able to prove the truth of it, unless you can invoke a defence. There is no defence to satire."
"So if you're trying to do something - a satire - on somebody, what you need to do is make sure that it's so outlandish that it's clear to everybody that it is satire, and to be very outlandish in what you say."
