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Irish hate laws won't get you arrested for accidental misinterpretation – Australian Associated Press

AAP FACTCHECK – New hate crime laws in Ireland have led to false claims on social media that you can be arrested if you accidentally mislabel someone.

Irish legal experts say the law only applies where there is an intent to cause harm or social unrest and does not cover accidental reference to someone of the wrong gender.

The false claim is made in a series of Facebook posts containing similar text. Posts are shared by Australian users.

“Ireland passes law allowing police to arrest citizens who accidentally use incorrect pronouns,” reads the caption on a photo of one post.

The post contains a link to an article with this headline from The People's Voice, a website that AAP Fact Check has been exposed several times.

The article continues: “The Irish Parliament passed a new law on Wednesday that will allow police to arrest citizens who misrepresent others – even if it is an accident.”

An article making false claims about new hate laws in Ireland is being shared online.

The law to which the article refers is Ireland's Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Bill 2022, which was passed by Dail Eireann, Ireland's lower house of Parliament, on October 23rd.

This is what Irish legal experts explained AAP Fact Check The new law could not be used to prosecute people for accidentally misinterpreting someone.

Luke Noonan, lecturer in law and co-director of the Irish Legal Information Initiative, said the legislation had increased penalties for existing crimes motivated by hatred in relation to a protected characteristic such as race or gender.

But, according to Dr. Noonan, it is not a criminal offense under Irish law to accidentally misgender someone.

He said the law sets the threshold for a hate crime as an offense that requires intent “to provoke a breach of the peace, or being careless as to whether a breach of the peace might be provoked.”

“An inadvertent misinterpretation by one person would not meet that threshold,” he said.

General photo in front of the Irish Parliament, Dublin.
Legal experts say accidental misinterpretation does not lead to arrest.

Fiona Donson, a human rights expert from University College Cork, said the law identifies gender as a protected category but that this has been twisted by critics to suggest that anyone who accidentally mislabels another person could be arrested.

Dr. Donson said any claim that Irish police could use this law to arrest people for unintentionally using a person's incorrect gender was “a complete misrepresentation of the law”.

The article in the post also refers to the case of former Irish teacher Enoch Burke, whose arrest was the subject of misleading claims that were refuted by AAP Fact Check.

The verdict

INCORRECT – The claim is incorrect.

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