How has Hate Speech Bill gradually become detested by a number of government TDs?
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Criticism comes from both the left and the right as concerns grow over the potential for the bill to crush free speech
Justice Minister Helen McEntee now says there will be amendments to the increasingly unpopular bill. Photo: Getty
The Hate Speech Bill has, ironically, an increasing number of people who detest it. They see it as yet another imported concept that threatens the ancient and long-upheld right to free speech in a democratic society. On the other hand, many insist minorities are entitled to specially crafted laws that ensure they feel welcome, included and protected in Ireland.
It’s public speech that objectifies and diminishes others, invites contempt for them or encourages violence in their direction. An example from history would be Hitler’s long, hateful diatribes, which were soon reflected in regime mouthpieces, against Jews and Judaism, and we know where that led. It has expanded to reflect race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and difference.
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