First Amendment

Ireland about to destroy free speech, says Shellenberger

Ireland will destroy free speech, says Mike Shellenberger, if its Seanad (Senate) passes a new hate crime bill.

Published

10 months ago

June 25, 2023

Terry A. Hurlbut

Ireland about to destroy free speech, says Shellenberger

As Ireland prepares to vote on new hate speech/crime laws, a Twitter Files journalist warns such laws would be counterproductive.

Shellenberger to Ireland – don’t

Mike Shellenberger, resident of San Francisco and consistent free speech advocate, dropped a thread today warning the Irish not to go this route.

Helen McEntee, Minister for Justice, published a piece in The Sunday Times Ireland calling concerns about the new laws “misplaced.” Her article contains several hints that she aims to advocate for the alternative-lifestyle community. She campaigned successfully to institute same-sex marriage in Ireland. But, she says, same-sex couples “still have to look over their shoulders.” On that ground she supports the new hate-crimes laws now moving through the Irish parliament.

Several members of the Irish Senate (Seanad) have criticized these bills as rushed. McEntee denies this.

But Mike Shellenberger topok time to decry any suggestion of criminalizing speech in this context. In answer to this tweet,

With this legislation, we are protecting those most vulnerable to hate crime and hate speech and respecting the very generous Irish tradition of live and let live.

My article in today’s @ST_Ireland https://t.co/ozUjSGSWA0— Helen McEntee TD (@HMcEntee) June 25, 2023

Shellenberger dropped this thread.

The vulnerable are never, ever protected by censorship. They are empowered by freedom of speech. In seeking to deprive your fellow Irish of the most sacred of rights, you are your colleagues reveal yourselves to be the ones motivated by hatred. https://t.co/OpYo9wR6OJ— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) June 25, 2023

I wish there were a kinder way of saying this. But the hour is late.

Ireland, the UK, and the EU are on the verge not only of imposing totalitarianism on themselves, they are trying to impose their totalitarianism on the world through social media platforms.— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) June 25, 2023

McEntee claims that "the public consultations we have undertaken since 2019 on this legislation… were significantly positive"

It's a lie. The journalist @Ben_Scallan found 73% of the 3,500 responses to the legislation were negative. https://t.co/4CLflpjH4n— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) June 25, 2023

We should be afraid and angry of the totalitarian menace emerging from within the European elite.

To all, be firm but loving. Many are victims of propaganda claiming that "hate" is increasing society-wide. It's not. It's only increasing among elites who are projecting it.— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) June 25, 2023

This attack on free speech is coming from European elites. They have been in a panic ever since Brexit. They blame the Internet, social media, and free speech for the unpopularity of their agenda. They have gone mad and become dangerous. They must be stopped.— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) June 25, 2023

The people are with us and against censorship, and not just on Twitter. Three-quarters of the Irish are against @HMcEntee 's hateful agenda.

But public support means nothing without action. The Irish must rise up. Contact your Senator. Write to your newspaper. Protest. pic.twitter.com/gG5dkBVEb9— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) June 25, 2023

Here’s a country-by-country breakdown. Will be updated shortly.https://t.co/RwPUBQ4MaG— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) June 25, 2023

Please keep your eye on Ireland! https://t.co/8cLqVZyxZ2— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) June 25, 2023

Reaction was almost uniformly positive, with this tweet expressing the typical sentiment:

Protecting the vulnerable by stripping them of their fundamental rights. This immediate self-contradiction is the go-to defense for censorship today. Beyond Orwell.— Elena Louisa Lange (@beefheartchap) June 25, 2023

John Downing, writing in The Irish Independent, offered this piece to explain the new laws on May 1. The new laws would amend further the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act of 1989. They “expand the characteristics given special protection,” to include gender, “gender identity and expression,” and disability. It also would make it criminal to “deny or trivialise genocide.” While the old law emphasized the broadcast media, the new laws will emphasize the Internet.

A motion to delay consideration of the bill to year’s end failed in the Seanad.

Reaction elsewhere

Michael Walsh, writing in The Pipeline, condemned the new law in this piece on May 8. After a discussion of the hazards of frequent amendments to Constitution, he warns the new bill will:

betray… both the original Irish Constitution and the Irish people once and for all.

In reaction to Shellenberger’s thread, he tweeted a link to his original piece.

https://t.co/PL2CSGPWFv— Michael Walsh (@TheAmanuensis) June 25, 2023

Terry A. Hurlbut

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Terry A. Hurlbut has been a student of politics, philosophy, and science for more than 35 years. He is a graduate of Yale College and has served as a physician-level laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital. He also is a serious student of the Bible, is conversant in its two primary original languages, and has followed the creation-science movement closely since 1993.