After Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar vowed to modernize the country’s laws around hatred and incitement, Musk took to X to air his disagreement with the decision.
“Ironically, the Irish PM hates the Irish people,” Musk said in November.
Varadkar made the comments in response to riots that plunged Dublin into chaos after five people, including three children, were stabbed by someone who was believed at the time to not have been an Irish citizen. The suspect was later found to be an Irish citizen who had previously emigrated from Algeria.
Musk, a self-described staunch “free speech absolutist,” has long railed against laws and rules that he perceives to infringe on people’s rights to freedom of speech. In an interview with Gript in January, Musk said he would fund any legal challenges to the Irish “hate speech” legislation.
The businessman said the default position of X is to “challenge any legislation that infringes on the people’s ability to say what they want to say.”
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said the legislation, officially known as the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill, will move forward from the Senate this year.