The city’s politicians have spoken candidly about the abuse they receive over social media – and one former Wagga councillor has called for beefed-up police resources to deal with a “national crisis” on keyboard warriors.

The damning verdict on online abuse comes as Treasurer Joe Hockey becomes the first politician to successfully sue for defamation over a tweet.

Donna Argus, who initiated a high-profile police investigation over a vicious anonymous email, believes Wagga police are “ill-equipped” to deal with cyber crime.

The email, and a series of social media posts, attacked Ms Argus’s physical appearance and implied she was a lesbian and inbred. 

“We are putting resources into schools and education to prevent the issue, but we are lacking resources on the front line when it happens,” she said. 

“The effort Wagga police put in for me was good because I was high-profile, but you could see they didn’t have the ability to chase exactly where the email came from. And it's not their fault – the state government haven’t given them the capacity to do it.”

The ruling against Fairfax Media has been described in legal circles as a landmark case – and has prompted a call from the Human Rights Commission for an overhaul of defamation laws to protect free speech.

Wagga barrister Matthew Hogg said the case “opened a can of worms” on the potential for ordinary people to be stung by defamation laws.

“It’s a salient reminder that when we communicate on social media or other platforms, that information is at large,” he said. “People can no longer assume that they can put information out there and there will be no consequences.”

Member for Wagga Daryl Maguire admitted to being “physically shocked” and hurt by some of the material he reads online.

“We’re in a tough game. You expect the criticism as a public figure, but I do think in all of that there is a line," he said. 

"Such as someone saying someone is corrupt; it’s a very big statement and it would hurt anyone. So all this new technology is creating a lot of headaches for people, especially governments.”

Riverina MP Michael McCormack said self-censorship and awareness was one of the few ways to curtail online abuse.