Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)

This Bill is a very serious attack on freedom of speech and the right of people to protest. Mo Chara from Kneecap is being prosecuted in Britain for opposing the genocide and expressing solidarity with Palestine, and now the Government here is trying to pass legislation that would allow him to be prosecuted here too.

Section 3 of the Bill expands the legal definition of provocation of terrorist activity to include glorifying "(including by praise or celebration) a terrorist activity". The phrase "terrorist activity" can include activities both inside and outside of the State, so Kneecap could be prosecuted here, just as they are being prosecuted in Britain. Palestine solidarity activists in this country could also be prosecuted, presumably, for expressing support for Palestine Action, a civil society campaigning organisation that is in the process of being proscribed as a terrorist organisation in Britain. I, for one, support Palestine Action.

People will remember the mass outbreak of pearl-clutching that followed the Irish soccer team chanting, "ooh ah, up the 'RA", and young people singing along to The Wolfe Tones's "Celtic Symphony" at Electric Picnic. It seems that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael potentially want to lock these people up too. Is that not glorification of terrorist activity? This is outrageous. The lowering to the floor of the legal bar for provocation of terrorist-linked activity must be resolutely opposed. The Government was forced to drop its draconian hate speech legislation; it must now be forced to drop this renewed attack on freedom of speech.

Section 3 of this Bill opens the door to people being prosecuted for expressing solidarity with direct action carried out by protestors. Criminal damage can already be classed as terrorist activity if it is committed with the intention to "unduly compel a government ... to perform or abstain from performing any act". Someone, for example, posting support on social media for anti-water charges protestors pouring cement on water meters and saying "More of this, please" could be arrested and charged with terrorist-linked activity of "public provocation to commit a terrorist offence", fined an apparently unlimited amount and sentenced to up to ten years in prison. The same would apply to someone tweeting in support of Palestine solidarity protestors throwing red paint at the Department of foreign affairs or damaging a US war plane at Shannon Airport en route to assist in genocide, and saying something like, "We need more direct action like this". Under this legislation, that would constitute glorifying "(including by praise or celebration) a terrorist activity", even if nothing happens, no more red paint is thrown, or no more warplanes are actually damaged.

Section 4(3) of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005, which remains unchanged by this Bill, states: "In determining whether an act is a terrorist-linked activity, it shall not be necessary for an offence... to have actually been committed." Just saying online or at a public meeting that US warplanes should be sabotaged to stop them from arming the genocide in Gaza, even if that never happens, is now enough to get you locked up for terrorist-linked activity.

Section 8 of the Bill is also extremely worrying. It adds "Unlawful interference with information systems or data" to the list of terrorist offences, where it is committed with the intention to "unduly compel a government or an international organisation to perform or abstain from performing any act". Under the Criminal Justice (Offences Relating to Information Systems) Act 2017, "Unlawful interference with information systems or data" is defined extremely broadly, to include "transmitting, damaging, deleting, altering or suppressing, or causing the deterioration of, data" on an information system, as well as "rendering data" on an information system "inaccessible". Redefining this not just as a crime but as a terrorist activity means that various forms of online activism, potentially including co-ordinated mass email campaigns that collapse servers or a mass reporting of social media posts, could now be defined as terrorist activity. If you express support for that or encourage people to take part in it, you can be charged with provoking terrorism.

Section 4 of this Bill also strengthens the criminalisation of training for terrorist activity or terrorist-linked activity. Alongside a long list of relevant instruction or training that includes training in firearms, explosives and chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, we find training "in techniques, methods, skills or technical knowledge" that enables someone else to "commit, or aid, abet, counsel or procure the commission of, a terrorist activity". Showing people in your local anti-water charges campaign how to pour cement into a water meter, training people in cyber activism, suggesting to people how they might get through the fences at Shannon Airport - all of that could now be classed as training for terrorism.

We live in an upside down world where those who try to stop genocide are prosecuted for terrorism, where people who bravely went into Shannon Airport and tried to stop US warplanes are facing prosecution. With regard to those who are guilty of the terrorism, the ones who are raining the bombs down on the people of Gaza and shooting down people of Gaza queuing for food, those who fund, arm and politically support them, we are told, "No, they are not the terrorists. You are a terrorist if you try to stop it". I know which side I am on and I know which side will be vindicated by history but this Bill is a shameful attempt to criminalise effective protest.

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