As a rule, Irish media outlets cannot comment on matters that are under consideration in Irish courts. Generally speaking, we shouldn’t comment on matters under consideration in overseas courts, either, but for this story, it is worth making an exception: A LEADING feminist campaigner has been charged with a hate crime for posting allegedly homophobic […]
The job of An Garda Siochána, just like any other police force, is to maintain public order, and to investigate crime. The definition of a crime varies from country to country. In Ireland, for example, soliciting the services of a prostitute is illegal. In Ireland that’s a crime – in the Netherlands, by contrast, it’s […]
Free-speech platform, Parler, posted online at the weekend, with CEO John Matze posting a message to “lovers and haters” “Hello world, is this thing on?” Mr Matze wrote, a week after the site, which some conservatives see as an alternative to Twitter, was taken off line by Amazon Web Services and booted out of Google […]
This is now the fourth draft of this article. It is the fourth draft, because in the first three drafts, I had to be very careful what I said. That is because, in this new world that’s emerged over the weekend, you have to be very conscious, on the right, that you’re arguing with one […]
We have incitement to hatred legislation in Ireland. If what has happened in the past few days is not incitement to hatred, then what is? When you tell a community that they are victims of institutional racism, without any evidence; when you tell a community that one of their members was murdered, without any evidence; […]
The Court of Appeal in Britain has ruled that free speech includes the right to offend, finding that “Freedom only to speak inoffensively is not worth having”. The landmark ruling was handed down in the case of a mother, Kate Scottow, who was arrested in front of her children because she described a trans activist who had […]
The Department of Justice’s new report, titled ‘Legislating for Hate Speech and Hate Crime in Ireland’, recommends the introduction of draconian and expansive hate based laws in Ireland but contains absolutely no recommendations on how to protect free speech and ensure the laws don’t stifle public debate. The report, published last week, will be used […]
A vote on freedom of expression at Cambridge University in Britain has been described as a “victory for free speech” by those concerned that debate is being shut down on campuses. The Campaign for Cambridge Freedom sought to amend new guidelines which required opinions of staff, students and visiting speakers to be “respectful” of the views and […]
Universities are supposed to be bastions of free speech. Yet according to a nation-wide poll released today by ADF International (UK), almost 40% of British students admit fears that expressing their views on campus could adversely affect their future career opportunities. Over a third stated that events are being increasingly cancelled on campus due to objections from other student clubs and societies based on the topic and the speakers. “Freedom of speech is the foundation of every free and […]
The European Commission has announced that they will be making perceived “hate speech” a crime under EU law. But who decides what is hateful? Ben Scallan reacts. #gript
A new group made up of various far-left organisations is formally launching today in order to campaign against Ireland’s “far right”. “LeCheile” is made up, as you might guess, of all the usual suspects: The National Women’s Council, The Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, Sinn Fein, The Union of Students in Ireland, Gaza action Ireland, The […]
On Friday, we reported on the contents of Fianna Fáil’s new Hate Crime Bill, which will be debated in the Seanad this week. Ahead of that debate, it is worth setting out for our readers why we at Gript believe hate crime laws are one of the worst ideas ever introduced by Irish politicians. Here […]