Elon Musk has said his company X, formerly known as Twitter, will fund Ireland’s legal challenge to the hate speech bill.
In an interview with Glypto, Musk said that X’s default position is to challenge any law that appears to infringe on someone’s ability to “say what they want.”
His comments referred to the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Crimes) Bill, which Justice Minister Helen McEntee said she would bring forward for debate earlier this year.
Mr. Musk explained: “Our European headquarters are in Ireland, we have a large office in Ireland and we have a large presence in Ireland, so naturally we have a position.
“We will also fund the legal costs of Irish people who wish to challenge this Bill. “We will therefore do everything in our power to protect the Irish people should there be any attempt to suppress the voice of the Irish people.” “I will make sure that I do my best,” and the ability to speak my mind,” he added.
Musk added that people should show “concern” if the government defines hate speech in its own terms.
“People should be very concerned about that. You are just at the mercy of the ruling party and the bureaucrats they have put in place. It can also be defined as hate speech simply because it is not.”
The bill in question aims to tackle both incitement to hatred and hate speech.
The new regulations criminalize any communication or behavior that is “likely to incite violence or hatred against a group or individual because it relates to a protected characteristic”.
These characteristics include “race, colour, national origin, religion, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, gender, sexual characteristics, sexual orientation, and disability.”
Musk also suggested that “the biggest lie in media is narrative choice.”
“Because they can ignore anything they don’t like and they can overly focus on what they want to talk about,” he explained.