Donald Trump Jr has remarked on new hate speech legislation proposed for Ireland, labelling it "insane".
The eldest son of former US president Donald Trump, who recently made history by becoming the first US president to face criminal charges, quote-tweeted a screenshot of the proposed Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022.
He captioned the quote tweet: "It's insane what's happening in the 'free world'".
READ MORE: New Bill will make it easier to secure hate crime convictions
His remark was in reference to an initial tweet by Keith Woods, who had posted a screenshot of the proposed legislation along with the caption: "Ireland is about to pass one of the most radical hate speech bills yet. Merely possessing 'hateful' material on your devices is enough to face prison time.
"Not only that but the burden of proof is shifted to the accused, who is expected to prove they didn't intend to use the material to 'spread hate'.
"This clause is so radical that even the Trotskyist People Before Profit opposed it as a flagrant violation of civil liberties. Dark times."
The new proposed update to Ireland’s current hate speech legislation will add a 'demonstration test' which will make it easier to secure prosecutions.
The bill, which was developed following public consultation which received more than 4,000 responses as well as the Department of Justice engaging with experts, includes a general provision to protect freedom of expression and will more clearly define the types of communication that could be classed as hate speech.
Under the new proposed legislation, a defendant must have deliberately intended to incite hatred of violence against a person because of their protected characteristics to be prosecuted.
Currently, race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnicity or national origin and sexual orientation are protected characteristics, however, gender (including gender expression and identity) and disability will be added to the list.
Now as part of the proposed bill, someone who seeks to incite hatred against a person or group with one of these characteristics may be guilty of an offence which might lead to up to five years in prison.
There is, however, a defence for a reasonable contribution to literary, artistic, political, scientific or academic debates.
There has been notable backlash to the bill, with People Before Profit stating that they are opposed to it "in its current form".
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