The Irish government has decided to abandon its plans for controversial hate speech laws after significant pushback from free speech advocates.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee announced on Saturday that Dublin will remove the new hate speech provisions from the proposed Criminal Justice Bill, acknowledging that the “incitement to hatred” section lacked consensus, according to the Irish Times.
Critics argued that the government failed to clearly define what constitutes “hate,” which could have granted the state excessive power to suppress dissent. The proposed measures could have included sentences of up to two years for possessing materials deemed likely to incite violence or hatred against individuals based on their protected characteristics. Those found guilty of inciting violence or hatred could have faced up to five years in prison.
Supporters of new hate speech restrictions contended that they were necessary for the “common good,” citing rising tensions and violence linked to the government’s mass migration policies, which have significantly altered Ireland’s demographics and strained public resources.
The decision to scrap the hate speech provisions has been celebrated as a victory for liberty across the West. American professor Michael Shellenberger called it a “massive Free Speech Victory,” noting it provides momentum to combat totalitarianism globally.
The populist Irish Freedom Party stated, “The government has abandoned anti-free speech legislation after our campaign against this draconian measure since 2019. While this is a positive outcome, we must remove those politicians who wish to limit our freedoms. Vote them out.”
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— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 18, 2023
Although the government has retreated—at least for now—on many of the proposed speech restrictions, Justice Minister McEntee stated she remains “adamant” about pursuing additional penalties for crimes that involve an element of “hate.”
The bill would enable harsher sentences for individuals convicted of violent crimes targeting victims based on their so-called “protected characteristics,” which include ethnicity, race, skin color, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disability.
“If you attack a person, if you commit a crime against a person or a group of people, simply because of who they are, the colour of their skin, where they have come from that there will be a tougher sentence, a harsher sentence at the end of the day,” McEntee said.
The Irish Freedom Party said that the legislation is still “not acceptable” claiming that hate crime laws would create a “two-tier justice system” in Ireland, saying that it would mean “crimes against members of a chosen minority group will be treated more seriously than crimes against ordinary people.”
The campaign group Free Speech Ireland cautioned that the government might still attempt to criminalize speech, highlighting that the legislation could potentially impose penalties for “denial of genocide.”
“It is a huge victory that the sections of the Hate Speech Bill introducing new sentences for hate speech will be removed. The Bill has become a political hazard for the Government, thanks to everyone who has shown their support for free speech,” the campaign group wrote on X.
“However, the Bill remains problematic in several ways, from the powers granted to seize devices to the criminalisation of debate over genocide. We will be paying close attention to the upcoming amendments in the Seanad.”
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— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 30, 2023
