Twitter jail just got a lot more literal. Ironically, the country that spent hundreds of years fighting for freedom from foreign tyranny is now imposing tyrannical free speech restrictions on its own people. The Irish government announced last month that hate speech violations come with a prison sentence. Because nothing says “compassion” like tossing rude people in jail.
The Irish government issued a press release at the end of October about the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022. The release quoted Irish Minister for Justice Helen McEntee saying that “hate speech is not about free speech.” The new legislation specifically includes “hate speech in an online context” and is tied to “the role that companies will play in managing hate speech on their platforms.” How dare you make someone uncomfortable, you dangerous criminal!
I think we all agree that we condemn actual violence, such as the Chinese Communists calling for the destruction of other countries on Twitter (there can be a debate about whether such calls should be censored). But woke leftists never stop with child porn and governments endorsing genocide. They always end up targeting people they merely disagree with.
Ironically, the press release specifically framed the legislation as protecting free speech, saying, “New Bill to tackle hate crime and hate speech includes clear provision to protect freedom of expression.” But don’t get too excited. The “freedom of expression” portion just provides exceptions for “discussion or criticism of matters relating to a protected characteristic.” Which is vague, but also seems to exclude any mere statements of fact about issues such as transgenderism.
The protected characteristics, according to the government press release, are “race; colour; nationality; religion; national or ethnic origin; descent; gender; sex characteristics; sexual orientation; and disability.”
The press release said the bill criminalizes “any intentional or reckless communication or behaviour that is likely to incite violence or hatred against a person or persons because they are associated with a protected characteristic.” Notice that it only has to be “likely” to incite violence. The punishment is up to five years in prison, and it is unclear if such a potential punishment existed in a different form previously. Ireland has had legislation to criminalize some types of “hate speech” since at least 2020, including Holocaust denial and alleged incitement of violence against LGBTQ people. “Incitement to Hatred” has been banned since 1989.
The question is, what does the Irish government define as incitement to violence? Are people going on murderous rampages against migrants on a regular basis because of “xenophobic” comments, for instance? Even McEntree admitted a “small minority of individuals” carry out alleged hate crimes. The section of the bill referenced above is very vague. After all, in America, merely calling “transgender” people by their original names has been labeled “violence.” Could an Irishman land in jail merely for referring to a biological fact? The bill states (emphasis mine), “A person may be found guilty of an offence … irrespective of whether the communication of material or behaviour the subject of the offence was successful in inciting another person to violence or hatred against a person or a group.”
The press release also said, “[The legislation] will also create new, aggravated forms of certain existing criminal offences, where those offences are motivated by hatred of a protected characteristic. These will carry an enhanced penalty and the criminal record will clearly state that the offence was a hate crime.”
“Racism” and “xenophobia,” both terms subject to constant misuse by the woke left in many countries, are specifically condemned in the bill.
Then the release cited McEntree, “[H]ate speech is not about free speech — hate speech is designed to shut people down, to shut them up, to make them afraid to say who they are and to exclude and isolate them. There is nothing free about that.” So apparently shutting down and shutting up the speaker solves the problem? Since when did oppression of one group make another group freer?
“All provisions throughout the Bill have been carefully developed to ensure it is victim-centred and effective in securing convictions where serious crimes are committed, and the legislation follows extensive public consultation and research,” McEntree pontificated. “The new offences will allow for the ‘hate criminal’ label to follow an offender in court … I want to assure the public that we have worked hard to strike a balance in this Bill in protecting the right to free speech with protection of vulnerable and minority communities from dangerous hate speech.” Whatever that means.
The Irish should know better. They spent hundreds of years being disenfranchised, killed, imprisoned, starved, and shut up by foreign rulers. Censorship is a slippery slope, especially when “hate speech” can mean “any facts I—or the government—don’t like.”
How long before Irish citizens are imprisoned just for speaking the truth?
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