- Seth Dillon, Ashley St. Clair, Sara Gonzales, and Andy Ngo among others joining ADF International in calling on Ireland to abandon far-reaching censorship bill
- Proposed law could criminalise citizens for having certain memes or jokes stored on their phones, including sentence of up to 5 years in prison
DUBLIN (29 January 2023) – Influential voices from across three continents have united in condemnation of Ireland’s proposed far-reaching censorship bill – “The Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022”.
The bill proports to combat incitement to “hatred,” but offers no clear definition of what “hate” entails. Free speech experts have raised the alarm that the bill may pave the way for the criminal prosecution of a wide range of expression considered unfavorable by authorities.
Voices across the globe standing up for free speech in Ireland
The proposed “hate speech” law could be one of the worst violations of free speech in the West if adopted
Will you join us?
Share the video to #KeepSpeechFree
pic.twitter.com/4cGZ5Wv1jj
— ADF International (@ADFIntl) January 26, 2024
The video, published by ADF International on 26th January, features Päivi Räsänen (Finnish parliamentarian) and Gabriel Quadri (Mexican congressman) – public figures prosecuted for their peaceful expression on X in their respective countries.
Räsänen has undergone almost five years of criminal proceedings in Finland on account of a Bible-verse tweet in 2019. Finnish state prosecution has appealed her case to the country’s supreme court, where, if admitted, ADF International would continue to support her legal defence. Quadri was convicted and forced by a Mexican court to post apologies twice a day for fifteen days on X for a series of eleven posts reflecting his beliefs about the biological reality of men and women. ADF International has appealed his case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
“It’s incredibly important to exercise our free speech to defend against the degrading of this basic human right, which belongs to everyone. This Irish ‘hate speech’ bill targets free expression with criminal penalties. We must send a clear message to the Irish parliament that censorship has no role in a democratic society. Free speech is broadly protected in international law, and the government has an obligation to uphold this.
In other parts of the world where similar ‘hate speech’ legislation has been enforced, we have seen innocent people dragged through the courts for something as simple as a Bible-verse tweet, or affirming biological reality about men and women. Ireland should be a place where we can have important conversations about issues that matter to us – yes, even about controversial and sensitive topics. When these conversations are shut down, we all lose out,” said Lorcàn Price, Irish Barrister and Legal Counsel for ADF International, who has been providing members of the Irish parliament legal advice regarding the draft bill’s violations.
Challenged by Elon Musk
On 23rd January, in an “X Space” hosted by Ben Scallan of Gript Media, Ireland, Elon Musk committed to challenging the law in court should the legislation pass. Musk further committed to funding the legal fees of Irish citizens prosecuted under the bill.
The commitment to challenging state censorship follows an open letter addressed to Musk from ADF International in October signed by over 5,000 members of the public, including more than 50 recognised free speech advocates from across the world.
The letter asked Musk to:
“Designate funds to support legal action challenging state-sponsored censorship of views on X, broadening your offer regarding cases in the workplace;
Create an intake mechanism on X whereby individuals can apply for this support;
Host X Spaces to bring worldwide attention to censorship cases involving both governments and the workplace.”
Upon seeing Elon’s commitment to challenging state censorship in Ireland, signatories of the letter produced the video message to affirm their support for free speech in Ireland and across the world.
Far-Reaching Censorship
As currently drafted, the law would allow police to gain wide authority to search for materials that are “hateful,” rifling through text messages, emails, and personal effects to find prosecutable content – including in the form of jokes or memes.
On the issue of gender, the bill has a vague and open-ended series of “protected characteristics,” allowing for an infinite number of “gender identities” which could give the protection law to ill-defined identities as “two-spirit,” “non-binary,” “demi-girl” etc. The bill would potentially create a legal scenario where perceived offense against a non-exhaustive list of identities can be met with the full force of the law including possible custodial sentences. The bill also criminalises the possession and circulation of “hateful” materials, where the accused would be require to justify their possession of material which may incite “hate”. It is currently before the upper house of the Irish parliament where further amendments will be debated.
