And on the way to banning "hate speech."
Oireachtas is the Irish Parliament and President, so if you hold office, you're likely excluded from the ban.
https://www.theburkean.ie/articles/2022/10/27/mcentees-hate-speech-bill-what-to-expect-and-how-to-fight-it To recap the key points in the Bill:
§ Communications deemed ‘perceived’ hateful on any medium to those of a ‘protected characteristic’ may merit up to 5 years imprisonment on conviction or up to 12 months on summary conviction.
§ Those just disseminating hateful content could face up to 2 years in prison.
§ Special exclusions exist for artistic, political and academic speech, as well as utterances made in the Oireachtas if it meets authorities’ definition of a ‘reasonable contribution’.
§ Those convicted are liable to be branded as a ‘hate criminal’ in future legal proceedings as well as Garda vetting.
§ A useful stick to beat tech companies, corporations are redeemed from prosecution for platforming hate speech only if they have ‘in place reasonable and effective measures to prevent dissemination of communications inciting hatred’.
§ Irrespective of whether the alleged hate speech actually incites violence or discrimination, an individual may be prosecuted or even if they were in the state or information hosted outside of the state.
§ No doubt influenced by ‘transphobic rhetoric’ on the airwaves, gender identity is now included in the final draft.
§ Membership of ‘an organised hate group’ can be counted as evidence in any hate related crime as well as a victim’s ethnicity and past statements by the defendant.
§ Holocaust denial will carry up to 12 months prison time as will denial of any UN recognised genocide.
