'Far right' messaging blamed over riots

THE Irish government has blamed the recent riots on the phantom 'far-right' and vowed to fast-track draconian 'hate speech' laws.

- PAUL BENNETT

This was after the barbaric knife attack on three children and a creche employee in Dublin by a 50-year-old Algerian immigrant on November 23, which then sparked riots.

Addressing the nation at Dublin Castle after the stabbings, Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, crudely prioritised legislating hate speech laws to tackle the growing public unrest in Ireland about key issues such as mass immigration, instead of speaking about the rising crime levels in the country.

He said: "It's now obvious to anyone who might have doubted it that our incitement to hatred legislation is just not up to date for the social media age and we need that legislation through.

"And we need it through in a matte weeks because it's not just the platforms that have responsibility here, and they do, it's also the individuals who post messages and images online that stir hatred and violence. We need to be able to use laws to go after them individually."

As a result of a coordinated government response to tackle 'hate speech', the Republic of Ireland's new Online Safety Media Commission has urged the Irish public to report any 'hate speech' to the Gardai (Irish police) in the aftermath of the stabbings and riots in Dublin.

The newly established Irish online media regulator approved by the European Commission, Coimisiún na Meán, is currently overseeing what is being billed as online safety in Europe in a move to tackle hate speech and disinformation.