In a dramatic turn of events, Sinn Féin announced Monday its opposition to the Irish Hate Speech Bill. Sinn Féin spokesman on Justice Pa Daly TD stated, “It is clear to me and to Sinn Féin that this Bill does not have support across the political spectrum. It must be scrapped.”
During the first reading of this legislation in April 2023 every member of Sinn Féin voted in favor of the bill.
Later on Monday Minister of State Neale Richmond appearing on The Tonight Show said the bill was not passable in its current form.
"Realistically I think there is a review process under way… there's an awful lot of amendments to review…"@nealerichmond explains how it's hard to see the Hate Speech Bill progress through the Dáil in its current format and @CowenBarry
agrees.#TonightVMTV pic.twitter.com/viGVwDSInc
— TonightVMTV (@TonightVMTV) March 25, 2024
Why the sudden change of stance?
In November last year an Algerian Muslim immigrant stabbed an adult and three small children near a school. In response, demonstrators took to the streets of central Dublin calling on politicians to close the border to migrants and tighten immigration policies.
Irish authorities investigated UFC champion and Irish national Conor McGregor for making “hateful” remarks on social media following the stabbing incident.
International news media and Irish officials were quick to attribute the protests to “hate” and the “far-Right.” Garda Chief Drew Harris blamed them on a “hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology.”
Then-Prime Minister Leo Varadkar responded by condemning the “hate.” “We will modernise our laws against incitement to hatred and hatred in general,” Varadkar told a news conference following the Dublin demonstrations.
The proposed legislation criminalizes possession of “hateful” material “with a view to the material being communicated to the public or a section of the public.” According to the legislation, the burden of proof lies with the accused to demonstrate that he did not intend to distribute the material.
However, the term “hate” remains undefined in the legislation.
Failure of the Irish legislation comes on the heels of similar Canadian legislation proposed last month.
Bill C-63, also known as The Online Harms Act, includes penalties for “hate” crimes extending to life imprisonment. “New standalone hate crime offence that would apply to every offence in the Criminal Code and in any other Act of Parliament, allowing penalties up to life imprisonment to denounce and deter this hateful conduct as a crime in itself,” says a technical briefing released to reporters the day the bill was tabled.
The proposed legislation also establishes a digital safety commission with broad powers to regulate social-media giants.
Canadian Civil Liberties Association Executive Director and General Counsel Noa Mendelsohn Aviv expressed concerns in an interview, citing the challenge of distinguishing between “political activism, passionate debate and offensive speech.”
To date, at least thirty countries have passed “hate” legislation. Notably, the United States has no hate speech laws due to consistent Supreme Court rulings deeming such laws unconstitutional under the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech.
