Gab.com Refuses To Comply With Irish “Hate Speech” and “Anti-Prayer Zone” Laws
Part of Gab’s mission is to export the First Amendment to the entire world. To do this we regularly must tell foreign governments to pound sand when they make requests for user data and demand that we censor content that is protected by the First Amendment.
Each time our answer is the same: get lost.
Recently there has been a rise in “hate speech” legislation popping up all around the world as governments scramble to prevent people from speaking freely about being replaced and ruled in their home countries by foreigners who don’t share their values. Unfortunately these “hate speech” laws are not only native to foreign countries without the protections of the First Amendment, but as we’ve seen recently they are also happening at the behest of the donor class in the United States in places like Florida.
Let me make one thing very clear: Gab firmly stands against any attempts by the Irish government, or any foreign government for that matter, to enforce censorship or engage in doxing of Irish users.
The Irish Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Act 2022 represents an update to the existing 1989 law. The rationale behind this update stems from the government’s priority to erode the freedom of the majority of their citizens in exchange for protecting the fragile feelings of marginalized communities, including individuals of different races, religions, persons with disabilities, and those identifying as LGBTQ.
The updated legislation aims to address so-called “hate crimes,” criminalize the denial or trivialization of genocide, and extend protections to encompass gender identity and disability.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, the bill’s proponent, has responded to claims that speech would be curtailed. She emphasizes the distinction between “hate speech” and freedom of speech, with the former intended to “silence and instill fear.”
The new law will introduce specific measures to combat hate crimes, defining them as intentional or reckless communication and behavior likely to incite violence or hatred. Penalties for hate crimes could reach up to five years of imprisonment. Victims targeted due to prejudice based on age, ability, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, or gender will benefit from enhanced protection. Straight White Christians need not apply.
The legislation will facilitate the prosecution of hate crimes by allowing prosecutors to rely on the use of hostile slurs, gestures, or symbols as evidence. However, critics express concerns that these changes may lead to the censorship of politically incorrect views, including those pertaining to “trans rights.”
The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act, enacted in 1989, criminalizes the communication of threatening, abusive, or insulting material likely to incite hatred against a group of people. However, individuals can currently defend themselves against charges by claiming they did not intend to promote hatred, based on their lack of knowledge or reason to suspect the content’s nature. The new law changes this defense, making individuals liable for hate crimes even if they claim lack of intent.
Unfortunately things get even worse for Christians in Ireland. Other legislation seeks to establish designated zones across Ireland where prayer is prohibited, as depicted in the accompanying map. The proposed legislation, often referred to as the “anti-prayer zone” law, seeks to create designated areas where public prayer would be prohibited.
"Anyone repeatedly protesting outside medical centres that provide abortions could face a €2,500 fine or six months in prison. The new laws are aimed at clamping down on anyone protesting outside or close to medical facilities which provide terminations of pregnancy. The proposals will see a 100-metre buffer zone imposed outside abortion clinics, within which protests impeding access or attempts to influence a woman’s decision to have an abortion will be outlawed."
Gab is committed to being a refuge for anonymous free speech in Ireland. We welcome our Irish friends to speak freely on our platform. We will not bend to any demands from your government to censor free speech or dox anyone who is engaged in it on our platform. If you’re Irish and on Gab we are exporting the First Amendment to you. We will do everything in our power to subvert these draconian laws by exporting the First Amendment to Ireland, as is our right under our Constitution.
Andrew Torba
CEO, Gab.com
Jesus Christ is King of kings
