Justice Minister Helen McEntee is seeking Cabinet approval today to repeal the country’s old censorship laws – even as she seeks to enact censorship laws of her own.
The Minister will tell the government today that there has been a significant change in society’s values in the 100 years since these laws were introduced, and that the Censorship of Publications legislation still technically allows for the censorship and prohibition of books, newspapers or magazines that are considered “indecent,” “obscene,” or have too great an emphasis on crime.
The move is mostly symbolic, as in recent decades the censorship board has been virtually inactive due to a dearth of complaints or appeals. However, McEntee said she sees the existence of the board as inappropriate for modern times, and that there are already robust powers in place to deal with threatening or abusive material, or child abuse material.
Despite these claims, the Minister is currently in the process of attempting to pass wide-ranging hate speech legislation which would prohibit criticisms of unspecified genders “other than that of male or female,” and which does not define “hatred.”
Justice Minister Helen McEntee says that "the vast majority of people" want hate speech laws.#gript pic.twitter.com/BZy6MBgKLp
— gript (@griptmedia) June 14, 2023