this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
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Privacy
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Yeah I've no issue with hate laws as a general exception to freedom of speech but there are some weird laws here. This does sound open to abuse from what I'm reading in OP but honestly this is the first I've heard of it and there's not much to go on so I'll have to reserve judgement until I've had a chance to read more.
In general I would prefer more free speech here, not less. Like I don't want someone getting arrested for calling me a filthy paddy for example or having a meme of similar. It would make them a dickhead but I don't think it's worth jail time over. Again though I'll have to read more.
We had a weird provision where blasphemy was illegal until recently but that was honestly largely because it required a public constitutional vote to remove (as all changes to our constitution do).
While writing this I've taken time to do some reading on current obscenity law status. The laws do sound quite archaic but have been reasonably implemented by the judiciary. Some examples below: (DPP is the department of public prosecution)
DPP v. DPP (2010): The Supreme Court of Ireland ruled that a website that depicted child pornography was an obscene publication.
DPP v. Walsh (2014): The Court of Appeal of Ireland ruled that a magazine that featured explicit photographs of adult women was not an obscene publication.
DPP v. McGivern (2018): The High Court of Ireland ruled that a book that contained graphic descriptions of sexual violence was not an obscene publication
Edit: If you make it this far you mention hate crime but not hate speech in the US. Freedom of speech there is reasonably close to absolute, right? Barring things like defamation etc.
I've seen that awful church protesting with what is absolutely hate speech "God hates fags" etc.
True, but another commonly cited exception is that it's illegal to yell fire in a crowded theater where there is no fire. My assumption is the rationale being, if your speech is likely to present a danger to people it shouldn't be legal.
But you're correct, America is pretty tolerant of hate speech, and it does lead to some pretty negative consequences imo.
Probably a better comparison would be countries like Canada or Germany.
EDIT:
I do applaud you for taking the time to research it rather than getting caught up in the sensationalism of a Twitter post like so many others replying to me.
You’re dealing with someone who wants to punish wrongthink. It’s a waste of time to respond rationally.
I replied to one of your other comments before I spotted this but I think it was genuine and a mistake equating the two. I could be wrong but I generally assume good intent on Lemmy.
I've started reading through the legislation and it does cover hate crimes as well as hate speech. It's 40 pages though so it'll be tomorrow before I finish it but it looks lazy deliberately to let the courts decide what's suitable and what's not (not terribly uncommon for legislation here unfortunately but it does leave huge room for old, disconnected from society judges to interpret as they see fit).