Last week, it was announced that Ireland was scrapping its proposed draconian hate speech laws.

The Hatred and Hate Offences Bill, initially overwhelmingly supported by major political parties in Ireland, was ultimately defeated after gaining notoriety and facing opposition from various groups and people.

The bill, which aimed to strengthen hate speech laws, was dropped by the Irish government due to concerns about its implications for civil liberties. The victory is a success for free speech advocates and demonstrates the impact of high-profile campaigns and allies in Parliament and the media.

However, we should remain vigilant and remain engaged in defending civil liberties as it may have gone away but it will come back, Dr. David Thunder warns. 

We must always remember that free speech is a fundamental pillar of democracy and we need to defend it to safeguard other liberties.

David Beats Goliath: The Defeat of Ireland’s New Hate Speech Bill Shows the Power of the Free Speech Movement

By Dr. David Thunder

Last year, with all major political parties backing it, I assumed Ireland’s Hatred & Hate Offences Bill was unstoppable. Now, I see that David can beat Goliath. Goliath will be back very soon, but for now, he has been sent away with his tail between his legs.

In April 2023, the Hatred and Hate Offences Bill passed through the lower house of the Irish Parliament by an overwhelming majority: 110 votes in its favour and just 14 votes against.

When it reached the Senate, several senators raised concerns about its implications for civil liberties. Over the past year and a half, the bill has gained so much notoriety that the Irish government has backed away from it and dropped the bill entirely, at least those elements that concern hate speech.

This is a very encouraging victory for free speech advocates and for the free speech movement internationally. What would have happened if a coalition of activists, journalists and business people had not lined up against this bill – people such as Senator Michael McDowell, Free Speech Ireland, ADF Alliance Defending Freedom and, of course, Elon Musk?

This is what would have happened: the existing hate speech regime in Ireland, based on the 1989 Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act, would have been strengthened and made considerably more draconian. The maximum penalties for hate speech offences, for example, would have increased from two years to five years. The list of protected characteristics would have been significantly expanded and the threshold for prosecution would have been lowered. Instead of having to show intent to incite hatred or prove that the person was aware of inciting hatred, it would only be necessary to show “recklessness,” which is a much lower bar for prosecution.

There are several lessons to draw from this victory. The first is that going from a bill having overwhelming support in Parliament to being defeated is very impressive and it shows the efficacy of a high-profile campaign. As long as you have significant allies in Parliament and the media, even if they’re in the minority, you can drum up enough notoriety and bad press for a bill to get it defeated.

Secondly, we need to be on guard more than ever before because the fact that this draconian bill passed overwhelmingly through our Parliament initially shows that our politicians either don’t care or do not exercise due diligence on these matters. But for now, I would like to congratulate everyone, from ordinary citizens to high-profile business people, senators, TDs, journalists and political activists who put so much work into defeating this bill.

What we have on our side is conviction and passion. We believe in what we’re doing because we understand that free speech is one of the fundamental pillars of constitutional democracy and of the rest of our civil liberties. Without free speech, we cannot have a voice in the public square, defend the truth or hold politicians accountable. Without free speech, we slide very quickly into authoritarianism and the rest of our liberties are easily dismantled.

You can read a transcript of the video above on Dr Thunder’s Substack HERE.

About the Author

David Thunder, hailing from Dublin, Ireland, has a PhD in political science.  He is a political philosopher and a permanent Research Fellow at the University of Navarra’s Institute for Culture and Society in Pamplona, Spain. Dr. Thunder publishes articles and videos on his Substack page titled ‘The Freedom Blog’ which you can subscribe to and follow HERE.