As the Irish government pushes forward with unprecedented speech restrictions that would see people criminalised for merely possessing material deemed “hateful”, the Irish Freedom Party has called for a rally in support of free speech to be held at the Custom House on Saturday, May 13th.
All likeminded groups and individuals are welcome to the peaceful rally, which is already garnering nationwide attention after many figures on the international stage such as Elon Musk, Donald Trump Jr and Prof. Jordan Peterson spoke out on social media expressing concern at the Irish government’s Orwellian Hate Speech legislation.
The new “Criminal Justice Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences Bill” will create new laws to prosecute so-called “hate crimes” and expand the protected classes of people who will be given special privileges under the law.
These protected classes will include those with gender identity issues among other minorities and ‘migration status’ may also be included as a category of protected class of people under the new bill, Minister for Justice Simon Harris suggested earlier this year.
Denying or “trivialising” genocide will also become a criminal offence, which has led to some speculation as to which genocides will become unquestionable and which will not, while perhaps most disturbingly, a “hate crime” can be determined according to the alleged victim’s perception of the incident in question.
This new bill may seem to come directly from the pages of George Orwell’s 1984 but it enjoys the support of all government parties and the so-called opposition parties of Sinn Fein, Labour and the Social Democrats.
It does appear to be deeply unpopular among the citizenry of Ireland however, and it is hoped with public pressure in form of contacting representatives and protests this bill can still be defeated.
To this end, those who value freedom of speech and thought are urged to gather at the Customs House on May 13th at 2pm to make their voices heard, as it may be one of the last times they can legally do so should resistance to this Draconian curtailment of basic liberties fail.
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