Donald Trump Junior has taken aim at proposed new hate speech legislation here, labelling it as 'insane'.
Under the proposed legislation, a person could be guilty of an offence if they prepare or possess material that is "likely to incite violence or hatred against a person or a group of persons" on account of their protected characteristics.
Such characteristics could include race, colour, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
The son of former US President Donald Trump criticised the changes in response to a tweet calling the legislation 'radical'.
It’s insane what’s happening in the “free world” https://t.co/BXEJoR1ios
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 30, 2023
Keith Mills, current affairs commentator, told Newstalk Breakfast he is not sure this is needed.
"Donald Trump [Jr] is just one of many prominent people who have come out against this legislation," he said.
"The Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson has done the same, Elon Musk even on Twitter is concerned about this legislation.
"I suppose it's because they're living in countries where there's constitutional protection on free speech.
"I think we need to understand why we need this legislation at all.
"Defamation and incitement are already a crime, intimidation is a crime - so why does the Government want to create new crimes and turn more citizens into criminals?"
'Very worrying'
Mr Mills said he believes this could lead to someone being criminalised just for possessing certain material.
"This legislation creates a situation where a citizen can be criminalised just for having what the Government considers hateful material," he said.
"That person doesn't even have to have any intention of sharing it or communicating it.
"It's very, very worrying".
He also said this would see a 'reversal' of normal innocent until proven guilty rules: "You have to prove that you didn't intend to communicate it and you didn't intent to share it".
'Protecting categories of people'
Fine Gael Senator Barry Ward said this is not the case.
"The reason we're bringing it in is not to criminalise more citizens... but to protect categories of people who live in Ireland, and who we know are subject to all kinds of abuse and targeting by all kinds of groups," he said.
"The classes that are protected under the legislation are race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnicity, descent, gender, sexual characteristics, etc.
"We know that the legislation's required, and we know that there are people who suffer particular abuse from individuals and groups".
Senator Ward also said there is no change to a presumption of innocence under the law.
"It is quite common, in offences for possession of a particular article, that there is a defence built into the legislation to allow them to show, 'Actually no, it was not possessed for the intention that you think it was'.
"That happens in the Theft and Fraud Offences Bill, it happens in relation to firearms, it happens in relation to all kinds of articles.
"It is there to protect people, where there is a feeling on the prosecution's part that they've possessed something for a particular purpose - there's a set of defences laid out," he added.
