Rebel News Podcast - September 01, 2023


EZRA LEVANT | Ireland's war on free speech — and the outlet that's fighting back


Episode Stats

Length

33 minutes

Words per Minute

169.71252

Word Count

5,640

Sentence Count

329

Misogynist Sentences

14

Hate Speech Sentences

11


Summary

In Ireland, the government is trying to crack down on free speech, and we're here to talk about it. We're joined by Ben Scallon, a reporter with the pro-activist website GRIPT.ie, to talk all things censorship in Ireland.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Tonight, perhaps the most terrifying plan for censorship I've heard yet.
00:00:19.420 We're fighting for freedom!
00:00:22.580 Shame on you, you censorious thug!
00:00:30.000 Ireland is a country of about 5 million souls, and it has, I think, a disproportionate number
00:00:41.020 of people who use the English language as a weapon.
00:00:46.000 Some of my favorite poets are Irish.
00:00:48.380 I think of Yeats and his incredible poem, The Second Coming, you know the one where he
00:00:53.860 talks about the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.
00:01:01.220 I think of that phrase a lot when I think of, well, for example, the pandemic, that the
00:01:05.980 worst people among us were motivated by the best were, well, they lacked all conviction.
00:01:11.440 I just can't imagine any of the hundreds of Irish poets and playwrights and lyricists and
00:01:20.500 musicians.
00:01:21.180 I think of Sinead O'Connor.
00:01:23.560 I think of so many artists who marshal the English language in a way that is prickly.
00:01:30.660 I think there's something about the Irish personality.
00:01:32.780 And then for Ireland's government to say, we are now going to crack down on speech that
00:01:40.960 we, the politicians, find undesirable, I can't think of anything more un-Irish than that.
00:01:51.000 That's my view sitting over on this side of the pond.
00:01:53.700 But I have started to follow a news source in Ireland very closely.
00:01:57.620 In fact, I've become a subscriber to them.
00:01:59.940 I'm a big fan.
00:02:01.160 In some ways, they remind me of what Rebel News is doing here in Canada.
00:02:05.640 The name of the organization, we've interviewed one or two of their reporters before, it's
00:02:08.720 called GRIPT, G-R-I-P-T.
00:02:12.160 I don't know exactly what it means, but that's the name, GRIPT.ie.
00:02:17.820 And they are firing on all pistons.
00:02:21.220 And one of the big projects they do is talk about the war on free speech in Ireland.
00:02:27.260 Joining us now from Dublin City is Ben Scallon, one of the reporters at GRIPT.ie.
00:02:34.940 He joins us now via Skype.
00:02:36.740 Ben, great to meet you.
00:02:38.320 I just, I've never been to Ireland other than passing through the airport.
00:02:41.820 But I, the idea of censorship and Ireland, that's like oil and water to me.
00:02:46.940 I just, I just can't imagine any self-respecting Irishman believes that someone else should tell
00:02:53.180 them what they can or can't hear, say or do.
00:02:55.980 Am I wrong on that?
00:02:56.960 Have I misunderstood the Irish culture?
00:02:59.400 No, you're absolutely right about that.
00:03:02.700 I mean, there's been a lot of laws that have been drafted and either passed or presented
00:03:08.740 for imminent passage by the government in the last couple of years in relation to censorship,
00:03:15.960 be it stamping out so-called misinformation and disinformation or so-called hate speech.
00:03:22.180 And there's really no evidence been provided by the government that there's any public outcry
00:03:27.740 for this, in fact, quite the opposite.
00:03:29.580 All of the polling and their own public consultations, I think you guys might call it a comment period
00:03:35.240 in North America, all of the evidence we have available shows that the public are overwhelmingly
00:03:40.680 opposed to this stuff and yet they're driving ahead with it anyway.
00:03:43.980 So it's very inexplicable, at least insofar as what you would expect a politician to do,
00:03:50.160 which is to pursue, you know, one of the interesting things is people always say,
00:03:54.500 oh, sure, politicians, they're only in it for the votes.
00:03:56.820 They only do what makes them popular.
00:03:59.260 It seems like the Irish government is determined to do everything that makes it unpopular and
00:04:03.420 do the exact opposite of what the general public is actually asking it to do.
00:04:07.640 You know, I just got back from New Zealand, which in some ways is similar to Ireland.
00:04:12.720 Hear me out.
00:04:13.420 I mean, you might be thinking, what on earth could those two countries have in common?
00:04:17.140 Well, they're about the same size in terms of population.
00:04:20.160 They're both led, in the case of Jacinda Ardern, who just finished as the prime minister down
00:04:26.900 there.
00:04:27.680 And if I'm not mistaken, if I'm pronouncing it right, Leo Varadkar in Ireland, both are
00:04:32.980 globalist world economic forum, young leaders.
00:04:36.880 And both of them use identical language about misinformation and malinformation.
00:04:44.280 I feel like I'm watching.
00:04:45.980 And then I suppose Trudeau, you could throw him in there.
00:04:47.820 I feel like I'm watching three triplets who are doing this as part of some higher ideological
00:04:54.900 calling.
00:04:55.840 There's no demand in any of the three countries, Canada, Ireland, or New Zealand for censorship.
00:05:00.740 In fact, I've never heard of any country in history call out for censorship.
00:05:05.040 But I feel like the three leaders I've just mentioned are sort of cut from the same cloth.
00:05:10.400 And this is their mission to enlighten their country by censoring it.
00:05:15.360 What do you think of my analogy?
00:05:16.780 And did I get the Irish leader's name right?
00:05:20.340 Yeah, Leo Varadkar.
00:05:21.360 Absolutely.
00:05:21.900 You did surprisingly well there.
00:05:23.720 Yeah, I think that it's kind of amazing the uniformity of governments across the Western
00:05:31.740 world at this point and how all of these unrelated politicians are pushing almost identical policies
00:05:37.740 using almost identical language at the exact same time.
00:05:41.560 I mean, we've done many compilations on GRIFT.
00:05:44.260 I think you guys probably do similar stuff in Canada and in the United States and other
00:05:49.300 places where we'll cut together compilations of politicians from different political parties,
00:05:56.620 parties who ostensibly oppose one another, all using the exact same language.
00:06:03.160 Like, for example, during the Ukrainian refugee crisis that's going on in Europe at the minute,
00:06:08.740 we've taken in an absolutely alarming amount of asylum seekers from abroad, from all over
00:06:14.380 the world.
00:06:14.820 Some towns and villages up and down the west coast of Ireland have literally had their
00:06:19.600 populations more than doubled overnight, where the town will have a population of 800
00:06:25.020 and suddenly there's a thousand asylum seekers there.
00:06:28.180 You know, it's these kinds of numbers.
00:06:30.420 And when justifying the policy, politicians from across the political spectrum all have said
00:06:35.920 on loop like a beating drum that we need to abide by our international obligations.
00:06:41.360 You know, it's our international obligations that have required us to take in all of these
00:06:46.300 people and so on.
00:06:47.360 And they all use the exact same word.
00:06:49.660 So I don't know what to make of that or what to infer from that.
00:06:53.040 I think if anything, it just shows the lack of imagination.
00:06:56.920 If you want to put it in a, you know, the most benign terms possible, that they are chronically
00:07:02.880 short on new ideas that that might be the culprit.
00:07:06.300 Well, I think that is too benign an explanation.
00:07:09.000 Reminds me of when all the leaders around the world on cue started using the phrase build
00:07:13.340 back better.
00:07:14.940 It was bizarre to see that that phrase just emanating from everywhere as if everyone just
00:07:20.300 got the same central memo.
00:07:22.060 I have a theory that, of course, there are local democracies and local parliaments and
00:07:27.080 congresses.
00:07:28.060 But there is no denying that these masters of the universe do gather together without the
00:07:33.680 same scrutiny and disclosure that they have in their national parliaments in Davos, at
00:07:38.980 the UN, at other supranational meetings.
00:07:41.800 And there are some dissenters.
00:07:43.020 Trump was the biggest dissenter.
00:07:45.300 But, you know, the Jacinda Ardern's, the Leo Varadkar's, the Justin Trudeau's, they hammer
00:07:50.040 it out amongst themselves.
00:07:52.020 And without any opposition, without any disclosure of who's there, who's lobbying.
00:07:56.720 And then they go back to their lowly countries where the peasants don't like it.
00:08:01.180 They don't know what's good for them.
00:08:02.740 I think it's identical how Leo Varadkar has pushed these things in Ireland and Justin Trudeau
00:08:07.520 has in Canada.
00:08:08.480 But listen, all of this is just a preamble.
00:08:11.260 I want to show you.
00:08:13.460 I want to show some comments by your.
00:08:17.300 These, this is from the Electoral Commission, if I'm not mistaken, including a member of
00:08:24.140 the Irish Supreme Court.
00:08:26.820 I found this absolutely terrifying.
00:08:29.500 You were asking questions about how their Electoral Commission is now arrogating unto
00:08:34.100 itself the power to censor the debate during an election.
00:08:38.380 Why don't you set this clip up for us?
00:08:40.020 And I want to play a few minutes of it because it's astonishing to me.
00:08:45.520 Some of the phrases.
00:08:46.260 Give us one minute.
00:08:47.360 Where was this?
00:08:48.200 When was this?
00:08:49.380 Who are these people?
00:08:50.300 And then we'll play the clip.
00:08:52.500 So, yeah, the Electoral Commission was just established in February of this year, and
00:08:57.720 it was set up by the government.
00:08:59.520 And it has a load of different functions that are most of which are mundane.
00:09:04.680 So it'll be things like redrawing new constituency boundaries as the population changes and,
00:09:10.640 you know, getting people on the electoral register.
00:09:12.400 Just kind of run of the mill, logistical stuff, nothing too controversial.
00:09:16.260 But one of their functions is also to regulate misinformation and disinformation during election
00:09:23.640 time.
00:09:24.280 And so they will have the legal power.
00:09:26.600 They do have the legal power to, if you post something during a campaign, let's say,
00:09:32.000 when you're running for public office, they can order Twitter.
00:09:34.720 They can order Facebook.
00:09:35.660 They can order any publication they want to take it down and correct the quote-unquote error
00:09:41.000 if that is indeed what they determine it to be.
00:09:44.300 Now, of course, as any sensible person knows, there is no possible way to determine in an
00:09:51.200 objective way what is true and what is false.
00:09:53.720 It's, you know, these kinds of things are inevitably going to end up just being a matter of opinion.
00:09:59.440 And we've seen that so many times over the last couple of years.
00:10:02.600 I mean, COVID is the most prime example of that, where how many times did the establishment say that X was the truth?
00:10:12.200 And then it turns out it was the exact opposite.
00:10:14.460 And things that had been labeled as so-called misinformation turned out to be absolutely correct,
00:10:19.380 like the Wuhan lab leak theory, just to pull one example out of the hat.
00:10:23.920 So this kind of thing is absolutely just waiting to be abused.
00:10:30.940 And, I mean, it hasn't been in force yet for an Irish election.
00:10:34.660 We've got a local election coming up next year.
00:10:37.200 So it'll be very interesting to see how it plays out.
00:10:39.900 But that's basically who this group are, and that's their modus operandi going forward.
00:10:45.260 All right, we're talking to Ben Scallon.
00:10:47.000 And here's the question he put to these high priests of the ultimate truth.
00:10:51.280 Now, by the way, Ben, I know that you believe that there are some objective truths,
00:10:55.760 especially if we were talking about things like mathematics.
00:10:58.180 Two plus two is four.
00:10:59.180 There's no other way around it.
00:11:00.600 But when we're talking about political differences of opinion,
00:11:04.360 that's the reason we have an election,
00:11:06.160 because we don't all agree on what the truth is.
00:11:08.380 The thought that these commissioners would be the arbiters, it's terrifying.
00:11:12.380 Here, enough from me.
00:11:13.300 Let's watch the clip.
00:11:14.200 Our work is focused on the protection enhancement of democracy in the broad sense.
00:11:20.660 And the main function purpose is so that we ensure that people have trust
00:11:26.060 and continue to have trust in the election system, our democratic system generally.
00:11:32.440 Mr. O'Leary, of course, one of your electoral commission's purposes
00:11:35.140 is shutting down alleged disinformation at election time.
00:11:38.300 And in June of this year, you told the media that the scale of disinformation
00:11:41.240 around elections is, quote, enormous.
00:11:43.420 I'm just wondering if you could give an example of disinformation
00:11:46.000 that was spread during an Irish election that materially harmed that election in some way.
00:11:50.300 Okay, Ben, we're here to talk about the constituency review, but I'll make a brief remark,
00:11:56.520 and we will return to this subject into the future.
00:11:59.640 As you know, for anyone who heard me speak in June, what I actually said was having,
00:12:07.860 we spent 20 minutes with a panel of people who gave many, many examples of electoral
00:12:12.800 misinformation and disinformation.
00:12:14.920 And what I actually said was, as well, as you have heard from the panel, the scale of
00:12:19.400 this challenge is enormous.
00:12:21.140 The commission was established in February, and our job is to look forward.
00:12:25.180 But we can't ignore the fact that there is weighty international evidence that electoral
00:12:32.040 misinformation, disinformation carries on online in a survey, or the research that was
00:12:39.400 done between 2016 and 2021.
00:12:43.260 53 countries were examined.
00:12:48.240 And in 92% of those cases, there was found to be examples of misinformation, disinformation.
00:12:54.900 Ireland wasn't one of those countries, but I think there is no reason to assume that we'll
00:12:59.580 be exempt from this into the future as well.
00:13:02.840 We're really looking forward to getting stuck into this part of our brief, and we will be
00:13:08.040 speaking to you all about our approach to misinformation and disinformation as we get to
00:13:14.580 grips with the subject in the autumn.
00:13:16.360 Do you have a kind of a specific criteria for how you would determine whether something is
00:13:21.180 true or false?
00:13:21.960 Like if you're presented with a piece of information, how do you distinguish something
00:13:25.100 that's disinformation as opposed to just a difference of opinion, let's say?
00:13:29.580 Well, they're defined very clearly in the legislation, Ben.
00:13:33.940 So if you go back and have a look at how they are both defined, that's the standard of which
00:13:38.440 the commission, or me as chief executive, will make a determination in that regard.
00:13:42.680 I should say to those of you who haven't read the very long Electoral Act, that we have very
00:13:48.540 extensive powers to, A, research the general topic of information and the way in which advertising
00:13:56.840 happens around elections.
00:13:58.200 But also we have powers to require the correction or removal of information we believe to be
00:14:05.660 incorrect.
00:14:06.800 And they are very extensive powers, not found in fact in that many other European countries.
00:14:12.620 We're all going to have to become philosophers in a sense.
00:14:16.080 We're all going to have to learn how to test truth.
00:14:20.380 And the commission is going to have to learn, A, what the tools are and how to explain them
00:14:26.060 and how to teach them, really.
00:14:27.720 But we're also going to have to deal with the balance between the right of freedom of expression
00:14:33.180 on the one hand, and on the other hand, the right of persons not to be misinformed.
00:14:39.380 It will be a difficult exercise, but it's fundamental to the protection of democracy.
00:14:45.720 Absolutely fundamental.
00:14:47.200 And it's regarded as such by all international bodies, I think.
00:14:50.780 OK.
00:14:51.380 We have Adam.
00:14:52.920 I don't think I've seen a scarier three minutes in my life.
00:14:55.940 So many strange things.
00:14:57.340 It's an enormous problem, Ben.
00:14:59.420 Such an enormous problem, he can't think of one example.
00:15:02.080 There are studies in other countries of which Ireland was not one.
00:15:06.900 I think the worst part was when your Supreme Court judge there was saying we're all going
00:15:12.560 to have to become philosophers.
00:15:14.000 We have an enormous power to determine the truth.
00:15:16.680 Well, but that's not quite true, because what I think and what you think as philosophers
00:15:20.500 doesn't count.
00:15:21.260 It's just what she thinks.
00:15:22.820 Imagine a government agency saying we have an enormous power, and the law sets out how
00:15:28.400 to find the truth.
00:15:29.340 Oh, that's all we have to do is write down a law, and then we can all just know the truth,
00:15:34.720 because it's right there in the law, Ben, don't you know?
00:15:37.360 Why are you making trouble, Ben?
00:15:39.220 She says at once that this is an almost unique legislation, and she says everyone's doing
00:15:46.160 it, and we're going to find out all together in this messy way.
00:15:51.040 I find that terrifying.
00:15:54.160 I'm glad that Gript is on the case.
00:15:57.680 That's your media outlet.
00:15:59.600 What about the rest of Ireland?
00:16:00.900 Is this just, oh, okay, that's how it is, or are Irish people standing up?
00:16:06.000 I'm really confused by the fact that the media has not really even bothered to inquire about
00:16:13.280 some of this stuff.
00:16:14.540 In fact, we have this hate speech bill, which is coming down the tracks.
00:16:19.160 It's not in effect yet.
00:16:20.400 The government is yet to pass it, but it could really go either way at this point.
00:16:24.480 There is a substantial amount of backlash from the general public.
00:16:27.220 And would you believe that one of our biggest newspapers was actually writing submissions
00:16:32.680 to the government, urging them to implement it?
00:16:35.320 They were on the side of the censorship law, which to me, if you're a journalist who speaks
00:16:41.500 and thinks for a living, and that's your job, words, or your profession, then you supporting
00:16:47.040 a hate speech law is a bit like a butcher supporting a ban on meat.
00:16:51.580 You're literally shooting yourself in the foot, even aside from the moral questions that that
00:16:58.060 would raise as to, is it right for the government to be regulating what people can say and think?
00:17:02.640 That's all a separate issue.
00:17:03.960 Just from a self-preservation perspective, you would expect the media to be leading the
00:17:08.860 charge against this thing.
00:17:10.200 But at this press event, which just took place recently, I was the only journalist in the
00:17:16.560 room who asked that question.
00:17:17.800 And I don't think that's because I'm special or I'm Superman.
00:17:20.200 I just think there's a critical dereliction of duty on the part of the press here.
00:17:25.220 I mean, one of the things that the CEO of the organization said was, he goes, oh, yeah,
00:17:31.160 well, there was a study done and about 50-something countries were examined during the course of
00:17:37.160 this research, and they found that there was misinformation during their election.
00:17:41.360 OK, well, first of all, what are the 50 countries?
00:17:44.500 I mean, there's hundreds of countries in the world, so that's not meaningful in and of itself
00:17:48.200 if these are all in parts of the world where democracy is not particularly their strong
00:17:53.380 suit, let's say.
00:17:54.500 And also, what kind of disinformation, what impact did it have?
00:17:58.460 Like, you know, every single election in the history of humanity has had somebody talking
00:18:03.180 nonsense and telling lies and making stuff up.
00:18:06.540 That's a part of politics.
00:18:08.180 It's a very unfortunate part of politics.
00:18:09.980 But we expect that from politicians.
00:18:13.380 What I would want to know is, did any of this disinformation actually have a tangible impact
00:18:19.700 on any election?
00:18:20.560 Can you show me an election in the Western world that was won on the basis of lies?
00:18:25.240 I mean, if anything, you could say that, for example, here in Ireland, we have a coalition
00:18:30.360 government of several different political parties.
00:18:32.960 And one of the parties, the leader of this party, said he would under no circumstances
00:18:39.040 go into coalition with this other group.
00:18:42.620 And then he did exactly that as soon as he was elected.
00:18:44.900 He said that literally a couple of weeks before the election.
00:18:47.400 So I'd like to know, does that count as electoral misinformation?
00:18:50.540 I mean, there's probably people who voted for him and his party on the basis of that promise,
00:18:55.100 which didn't even last a few weeks after everybody's votes had been cast.
00:18:59.760 But when I asked the electoral commission via email, would something like that count as
00:19:04.140 misinformation, they refused to say, which I think kind of says it all as to what sort
00:19:08.700 of game they're playing here.
00:19:10.160 Well, every single politician deals in misinformation because every single politician does not have
00:19:17.780 all of the information and has an opinion and makes a conclusion, just like every other
00:19:22.700 human being.
00:19:23.760 Every human being gets things wrong.
00:19:26.440 Sometimes it's deliberate.
00:19:29.680 Sometimes it's accidental.
00:19:32.500 The idea and that and the most astonishing thing was the judge there, that lady who said,
00:19:39.120 we have enormous power.
00:19:40.860 We're all going to have to become philosophers.
00:19:43.300 She was embracing her role as the person to whom all Irish people would delegate their faculties.
00:19:51.740 The whole point of getting it out of the hands of experts and giving it back to the people
00:19:57.020 is because the whole system, including the judge, as if she has some unique insight into humanity,
00:20:05.520 as if she has some unique brain and heart and moral code and scientific knowledge that no other
00:20:13.040 people have, that she has more wisdom than the wisdom of the people.
00:20:17.280 I'm just blown away by this, but I got a question for you.
00:20:20.720 I was jealous of your ability to put those questions because in Canada, journalists like
00:20:27.540 you, and there are a handful of them.
00:20:29.180 I think some of them work at Rebel News are simply no longer allowed to attend government
00:20:34.280 press conferences because the questions you asked, you asked them very politely and they
00:20:39.040 were not unfair.
00:20:40.300 They were not gotcha questions.
00:20:41.720 I think they were good, basic questions.
00:20:45.600 Over here, those questions would either yield complete fog, like a fog machine with just
00:20:52.660 endless, meaningless word salad.
00:20:55.880 That would probably be it.
00:20:57.260 And if someone kept asking prickly questions, they would find themselves disinvited to press
00:21:02.660 conferences.
00:21:03.600 You're not the first gripped journalist I've seen put really good questions to power.
00:21:09.940 I don't want to tempt fate by asking, but how is it that you're allowed to do that?
00:21:15.880 Because in Canada, you're not.
00:21:18.200 Well, we joined last year the Press Council of Ireland, which is like a big kind of media
00:21:24.060 representative body.
00:21:25.880 And so that gave sort of a strength in numbers, I think, that while the government isn't obliged
00:21:31.920 by law to let us attend press conferences, if they wanted to, they could disinvite us tomorrow.
00:21:36.440 I think that it would be very difficult for them and it would cause more problems than
00:21:41.740 it's probably worth.
00:21:42.700 I think they've probably made a calculation and said, look, it's better, it's less dramatic
00:21:47.360 if we just let them do their thing and, you know, grin and bear it.
00:21:50.700 That's my suspicion anyway.
00:21:53.160 And I think that, you know, obviously being polite, being respectful, I always shake ministers'
00:21:58.800 hands, refer to them by their proper title and so on.
00:22:01.740 Make sure to comport myself with decorum, that kind of thing is, of course, I don't know
00:22:07.840 how far that would necessarily get in Canada.
00:22:09.600 Maybe you guys are a little bit more, as in the government, are a little bit more capricious.
00:22:15.100 But at least here, my thinking is, obviously, one, you want to be a polite person in general,
00:22:19.800 but two, you don't want to give them any excuse that they could say, oh, well, we're kicking
00:22:23.660 him out because he's belligerent, not because we don't like his questions, you know, whereas
00:22:27.780 now it could only be because they're not happy with the line of questioning, because
00:22:31.680 I'm never anything civil.
00:22:33.360 Well, Ben, I'll tell you, the actual reason we're kept out of Parliament is because access
00:22:39.260 to our Parliament is controlled by the Parliamentary Press Gallery, which is other reporters.
00:22:45.500 And they are granted their power, delegated to them by the Speaker of the House.
00:22:49.860 So it's actually our fellow journalists, our competitors, you might say, who have blocked
00:22:57.520 us in the first instance, and they're given legal immunity because they are under the protection
00:23:03.260 of the government.
00:23:04.200 So it's actually a merger between the politicians and other journalists to keep us out.
00:23:08.880 That's just our situation here in Canada.
00:23:10.820 And I don't mean to be talking about us, but I want to ask you, how do other reporters in
00:23:16.440 Ireland deal with you and your company?
00:23:19.780 And I know this is turning into an interview about Gript, not just your questions, but I'm
00:23:24.000 fascinated by this.
00:23:26.220 Do other journalists, do they harumph when they, oh, there's Gript again?
00:23:32.240 Do they roll their eyes?
00:23:33.720 Do they say, are they, is there what I call a media party?
00:23:38.520 Is, are the journalists in Ireland part of the regime?
00:23:41.820 Or do they maybe even admire your critical questions?
00:23:47.100 How are you treated by other journalists?
00:23:49.240 I think there's a, there's a couple of them, obviously.
00:23:52.020 I mean, everybody knows that the press skews left in the Western world and that's just the
00:23:56.200 way it is, you know?
00:23:56.940 So I don't think many of them agree with us probably on a broad swath of issues, but I
00:24:03.220 do think there's a level of respect and it wasn't there at the beginning when we first
00:24:07.160 started out.
00:24:07.700 I remember a couple of years ago, we broke a big story and one of the other papers kind
00:24:12.740 of had to give us credit for it because it was just too big to ignore.
00:24:16.660 So they had to say, their way of kind of fobbing us off and dismissing us was saying, the story
00:24:21.800 came from Gript, a right-wing blog, and that was sort of their subtle distos.
00:24:26.240 Nobody talks like that anymore.
00:24:27.860 Now, when I go to these things, they're friendly.
00:24:30.980 I mean, I'll put it this way.
00:24:32.200 The other day we had audio issues with one of our videos and a journalist from another
00:24:36.800 mainstream publication agreed to send me her audio to help me out, you know?
00:24:42.140 So I think it's gotten to the point where they've sort of accepted we're part of the media ecosystem
00:24:49.260 and that even though they might not like it all the time and they don't agree with us on
00:24:53.900 certain issues, the fact of the matter is, you know, we are here to stay and we speak for
00:24:59.300 a large portion of the population.
00:25:01.820 That's sort of what I try to do when I'm at these things is to ask the question that
00:25:06.060 ordinary people on the street who aren't convinced about all of this woke direction that society
00:25:12.840 is going, I want to ask what those people are thinking, you know, because so often those
00:25:17.820 questions just never get asked or addressed by anybody.
00:25:20.300 So I'm trying to be sort of a representative for that section of the public in the actual room.
00:25:26.440 Well, that's such a great report.
00:25:27.900 I'm so glad to hear that.
00:25:29.720 And I hope you remain in the fray, in the arena.
00:25:35.460 I hope you're not ejected from it.
00:25:37.420 I mean, we still manage to do creditable journalism from the outside.
00:25:42.540 In fact, in Canada, like I say, politicians are often fog machines.
00:25:47.240 You can put a great question, but you just hear blather.
00:25:50.960 You know, it's of no use to put a good question because they don't actually answer them.
00:25:55.720 But I'm glad to hear that.
00:25:57.620 And I'm glad that GRIPT is growing and is having a success.
00:26:02.480 I want to close by throwing one more clip.
00:26:05.140 Again, you asking questions.
00:26:07.120 This is a question that Matt Walsh of Daily Wire has perfected.
00:26:11.100 It's a question so simple.
00:26:13.100 A child can get it.
00:26:14.420 But that's the thing.
00:26:16.780 There's something so stupid only a PhD would believe them.
00:26:21.180 It's the question, what's a woman?
00:26:23.520 And here, I want to show your version of it.
00:26:25.400 Take a look.
00:26:26.240 It's appalling as a woman and a woman as a female sports minister that's trying to promote women in sport.
00:26:32.300 But I think it's just really regrettable.
00:26:36.140 Minister, an article in the Irish Times this week by Pat Leahy outlined some fears within government
00:26:40.560 that the so-called women in the home referendum might raise some uncomfortable questions for politicians.
00:26:45.800 For example, how do you define a family and what is a woman in the context of the gender debate?
00:26:50.220 So on foot of that article, I'm just wondering, what is a woman in your view?
00:26:53.240 This is something that the government are discussing, Ben.
00:27:00.280 It's very important that we get that wording correct.
00:27:04.140 So in relation to the actual wording of the referendum, I should hope that we'd come to agreement on that wording in the coming weeks.
00:27:11.740 I think it's a really important referendum.
00:27:15.460 It's something that I advocated for when I was chair of the Women's Caucus, that this would lead to a referendum.
00:27:21.780 But do you have a definition of what you referred earlier to being proud of being a female sport minister
00:27:28.780 and how important it is to promote women in sport and so on?
00:27:31.540 So I'm just wondering, do you have a personal definition of what a woman means?
00:27:34.800 I think, you know, the question is not relevant to the referendum itself
00:27:41.820 because as in the issue that is pressing at the minute in relation to the exact wording of a referendum
00:27:46.360 and having the referendum is absolutely essential for us in Ireland.
00:27:52.200 You know, if there's a referendum on a women's issue and if you're the minister of women's sport
00:27:56.680 but you refuse to answer what a woman is, that sort of answers it, doesn't it?
00:28:01.540 I mean, here in Canada, in the United States, you have biological men just crushing female athletes.
00:28:08.460 And with the approval, in fact, sometimes the support of born women,
00:28:17.380 I think that's an astonishing evasion, but better than some of the attempts we've seen lately to answer that question.
00:28:26.120 What do you make of that?
00:28:27.200 I thought that was quite something.
00:28:28.940 What do you make of that?
00:28:29.740 Yeah, I was kind of amazed by the whole thing because what my follow-up was going to be
00:28:35.460 before her press secretary jumped in and quickly went on to the next person
00:28:39.540 and said, like, we need to put the kibosh on this right now because he could tell which way it was going.
00:28:44.380 Because the referendum, I'm not going to bore people by going into detail,
00:28:47.360 but long story short, there's a clause in the Irish Constitution which says that, you know,
00:28:52.260 women have a very important role in society as mothers and homemakers.
00:28:56.780 And so no woman should be forced by economic necessity to have to work,
00:29:01.980 that the state should support women if they want to stay at home and be a stay-at-home mom,
00:29:06.580 that they should be able to do that.
00:29:08.380 That's basically what it says.
00:29:10.120 And there was a push recently to get rid of this from the Constitution
00:29:13.800 because they say it's sexist and outdated.
00:29:15.800 Basically, the government's position is that it's almost like you're saying,
00:29:20.660 oh, women belong in the kitchen and they should stay home,
00:29:22.900 which is really not what it's saying if you read the actual text of it.
00:29:26.140 But that's sort of the narrative around it.
00:29:28.600 So naturally enough, if you're going to have a referendum on the role of women in society
00:29:34.520 and what is the proper role that women should fulfill,
00:29:38.180 you're probably going to want to know what a woman is.
00:29:40.500 So I thought it would be a pretty reasonable question.
00:29:42.940 And apparently, according to the minister, that's not relevant at all.
00:29:46.860 We're going to have legislation to remove a word from the Constitution
00:29:51.020 without even knowing what that word means.
00:29:52.960 Yeah.
00:29:53.300 I read that Irish Constitution recently when I was going through some of the hate speech laws.
00:29:58.200 And it's quite incredible to see that hardwired right into the basic law of Ireland,
00:30:03.580 the protection for women.
00:30:06.700 And I thought it was actually beautiful and poetic.
00:30:10.240 And I thought it was actually quite Irish.
00:30:13.260 And I really like that.
00:30:14.620 And I don't know, that's something that has to be ripped out, I guess.
00:30:18.440 Ben, what a pleasure to catch up with you.
00:30:19.980 Thanks for letting us keep you so long.
00:30:21.880 I really admire the work you're doing.
00:30:23.880 And as you can see, I'm a super fan of gripped.ie.
00:30:28.080 And folks, if you want a news source, I mean, you might think you have no connection to Ireland.
00:30:32.780 I mean, really, I don't.
00:30:34.400 But the issues they're facing are the same issues we're facing.
00:30:38.220 And the battles they're fighting are the same battles we're fighting.
00:30:41.680 And I really look up to gripped.
00:30:43.720 And I see them having some of the same hallmarks that Rebel News does.
00:30:47.940 I think they're slightly better behaved, which, as we've heard from Ben.
00:30:52.020 Ben, great to meet you.
00:30:53.440 And congratulations on your whole team.
00:30:56.120 And hopefully we'll keep in touch with you.
00:30:57.580 I find this fascinating.
00:30:59.140 And I can hardly wait to see how it ends.
00:31:00.960 So thanks for taking the time with us.
00:31:03.180 Thank you so much, Ezra.
00:31:04.100 Great talking to you.
00:31:04.940 All right.
00:31:05.420 You too.
00:31:05.980 Well, there you have it.
00:31:06.860 Stay with us.
00:31:07.500 More ahead.
00:31:20.000 Well, that's our show for today.
00:31:21.540 What do you think about gripped?
00:31:24.640 I don't even know what that word gripped means.
00:31:26.460 G-R-I-P-T dot I-E.
00:31:29.440 That's the Irish URL, the Irish domain name.
00:31:35.100 I like that.
00:31:35.900 I want to go over and visit them.
00:31:37.180 I want to find some excuse to go over.
00:31:38.660 They seem like a great team.
00:31:40.540 And they get great access.
00:31:41.980 And they ask great questions.
00:31:43.420 And I really like their work.
00:31:45.100 And they're interested in a lot of the same things we are, including freedom.
00:31:48.380 I enjoyed talking to young Ben there.
00:31:50.600 And he made me chuckle when he said he's been watching me since he was in high school.
00:31:54.320 I don't know.
00:31:54.860 I thought he looked a little more grown up than that.
00:31:56.640 But maybe he's maybe he's pretty young or maybe I'm just getting old.
00:32:00.080 But I like him and I want to do more things with gripped.
00:32:03.080 I want to interview their journalists when they have interesting stories.
00:32:06.100 And maybe there's some way we can cooperate.
00:32:08.040 I don't think we'd ever be in a position where we would have a full-time reporter in Ireland.
00:32:11.700 I just don't think the market's big enough.
00:32:14.260 But maybe we can have some sort of friendly partnership with gripped.
00:32:17.140 I'm just daydreaming out loud.
00:32:18.340 That's all.
00:32:19.620 Well, that's our show for today.
00:32:20.700 Until next time, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters.
00:32:25.360 Actually, I'm in Israel when this goes to air.
00:32:27.960 To you at home, good night.
00:32:29.600 And keep fighting for freedom.
00:32:30.660 We'll be right back.
00:32:39.880 We'll be right back.
00:32:42.140 We'll be right back.
00:32:43.980 Thank you.