Proposed new hate crime legislation has been subjected to “deliberate misinformation and distortion” from “fringe commentators and US-based social media personalities”, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said.
Ms McEntee said the legislation was not “radical, as some would claim” but instead “proportionate”, evidence-based and in line with that in other countries similar to Ireland.
The minister was speaking as the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022 was being debated in the Seanad on Tuesday.
The Bill will update laws criminalising hate speech and legislate against hate crimes for the first time in Irish law.
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The new legislation will criminalise 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”.
Such characteristics are set to include race, colour, nationality, descent, religion, ethnic or national origin, gender (including gender expression or identity), sexual orientation or disability.
Donald Trump jnr described the legislation as “insane” in a tweet in recent months while Elon Musk, owner and chief executive of Twitter, responded to a separate tweet about the legislation and said it was “very concerning”.
Ms McEntee said the Bill had been broadly welcomed across the political spectrum, “as well as by the large and diverse array of representative organisations of these minority groups that we are seeking to protect”.
“While there has been much valuable, I think very positive discussion and reflection since the Government announced its intention to legislate in this area, it has unfortunately been subjected to deliberate misinformation and distortion, including from fringe commentators, and US-based social media personalities, of whom I don’t need to mention,” she said.
The Fine Gael TD said it had to be recognised that there were individuals and groups that are “deliberately and recklessly spreading hatred in our country without any regard for the people that they are victimising”.
Ms McEntee said however, she needed to make it clear that “no one has a right not to be offended”.
“We’re not saying that we’re going to legalise or criminalise somebody offending another person - that’s not what’s happening here,” she said.
“The right to freedom of expression, and freedom of speech are vital rights in any democratic society and I will defend them, the same as anybody else.”
Ms McEntee said on the strong advice of the office of the Attorney General, the Government has not sought to “limit the definition of what is the widely understood concept of hatred beyond its ordinary and everyday meaning”.
“It is the definition which has been used by the courts, by the gardaí, by the DPP and I’m advised that defining it further at this juncture could risk prosecutions collapsing and victims being denied justice,” she said.
Independent senator Michael McDowell said the United Nations Human Rights Commission had specially stated that “if you’re going to criminalise incitement to hatred, you should define the term and indeed the term incitement”.
“Hatred is something which could mean an awful lot to an awful lot of different people,” he said.
Mr McDowell said he intended to put down “a fair few amendments” to the Bill and that it “needs to be amended, it isn’t in good shape”.
“It emerged in Dáil Éireann on a wave of generalised support, and it has become before us in a state where it can be a charter for freezing genuine free speech and prevent people from articulating unpopular views, such as JK Rowling’s views or whatever they are,” he said.
Independent senator Rónán Mullen said the Bill leaves hate “undefined” and was about “attacking anything understood as hate, be it mild or extreme”.
Mr Mullen said the minister had gone for “the extreme end of social sanction - namely criminal law - to target people’s speech”.
“What about a definition to put people at ease,” he said. “Let’s not hide behind the hope of a benign prosecution service. When the social media mob is on the rampage the gardaí and the prosecution service will have little choice but to pursue the Graham Linehan’s and the JK Rowling’s of Irish society for robustly expressing their points of view.”
