Government is forfeiting the right to ever talk about misinformation again

Earlier this week, the Taoiseach of Ireland said something that is plainly, undeniably, and absolutely false. Speaking at the launch of his party’s “Yes/Yes” campaign ahead of the two March 8^th referendums, Leo Varadkar said the following, as faithfully reported without comment by the taxpayer-funded national broadcaster:

The Taoiseach has said the referendum on care, if passed, would place an additional and stronger obligation on future governments to support carers.

To establish that this statement is untrue, the average voter need only look at the wording of the proposed constitutional change. Here it is, in full, with my emphasis on the relevant bit that proves the Taoiseach’s words to be the nonsense that they are:

The State recognises that the provision of care, by members of a family to one another by reason of the bonds that exist among them, gives to Society a support without which the common good cannot be achieved, and shall strive to support such provision.

The word “strive” is defined in the Cambridge English Dictionary as follows: to try very hard to do something or to make something happen, especially for a long time or against difficulties. In other words, the Government is not obliged to do anything. It is simply obliged to try to do something, using a word that recognises that doing something might be very hard, if not impossible.

It might additionally be pointed out that there is nothing in the constitution’s present wording that prevents the Government from providing additional support to carers if it wishes, something Simon Harris admitted to Ben Scallan earlier this week.

But the Government was not done there. Green Minister Catherine Martin asserted, completely falsely, that the current wording of the constitution “says that a woman’s place is in the home”. This is untrue.

It is not only untrue, but it has been confirmed as being untrue by no less an authority than the Irish Supreme Court’s Judge Marie Baker, who is also Chairwoman of Catherine Martin’s own independent electoral commission, who says that “The case law of the Supreme Court is quite clear that (the present wording) doesn’t mean that a woman’s place is in the home”. If you don’t believe me, you can watch her saying it herself here.

But then we get back to the Taoiseach. Here he is this week saying that warnings that the referendum might lead to more immigration under so-called “family re-unification” are “red herrings”:

Yet here is a report from the Irish Independent, from last December, explicitly contradicting what he’s just said on camera:

Cabinet ministers have been told constitutional changes to the definition of a family could result in an increase in people seeking reunification with relations who emigrated to Ireland.

Documents prepared by senior officials for a high-level meeting said: “In the specific area of immigration, it is likely that the amendment will give rise to an increase in the number of persons asserting family relationships.”

Now of course, the Government might dispute the contents of the Irish Independent’s reporting – but they have had two months to do so, and failed to raise any concerns about it. And in fairness to the Independent, their reporting of cabinet discussions is almost always accurate. There is zero reason to doubt its accuracy in this instance, especially since so much time has elapsed.

So that’s three instances of senior members of the Government making statements about the referendum, in one week, that are verifiably false. And that, in all honesty, they have to have known to be false at the time they made them. Leo Varadkar was at the cabinet meeting that discussed immigration. Catherine Martin set up the electoral commission and appointed Marie Baker to chair it. Even the average Irish politician can understand the meaning of the word “strive”. It defies credibility to suggest that these false statements are honest mistakes.

This is the same Government, one should remember, that endlessly warns us about the dangers of misinformation and disinformation, and in particular how misinformation might lead to the corruption of democratic outcomes. Their constant refrain is that online misinformation might lead to people voting based on bad information, damaging the interests and image of the country internationally.

Aside from anything else, the really annoying thing is that in principle, the Government is right to warn about the dangers of misinformation. Some of it comes from sources other than the Government, and of course even those with the best intentions can make an honest mistake. Yesterday I encountered somebody who believes, for example, that Indian nationals were paid €80,000 by the Irish taxpayer to come here – an example of genuine misinformation that did not come from the state.

But arguments about misinformation cannot be sustained when the Government itself is openly misinforming voters about the consequences of what they are asking the public to vote on. There are reasonable and fair arguments to be made for a Yes vote, and reasonable and fair arguments to be made for a No vote. The Government, by contrast, is simply fibbing to the public. They should never be taken seriously about misinformation again.

And nor should the pious media outlets that echo their every concern about misinformation, and stay quiet when misinformation comes from Government buildings. It’s revolting.