Hate Speech in Indian Elections and the Role of Election Commission
Ayan Guha · 2025
Elections in India have always displayed an air of celebration, with heightened emotions both in speech and action. Hence, the use of extreme speech is not uncommon, especially when the speaker is swayed by the ‘collective effervescence’ (Durkheim, 1915) of the election season. The role of social media is noteworthy in this context as it provides democratising potential for freedom of expression as well as expanded scope for articulation of extreme viewpoints. This chapter seeks to critically engage this dilemma through a study of the election campaigning in the world&s;s largest democracy. The Indian elections are conducted by the Elections Commission (EC), an independent constitutional body. It performs the difficult task of making a distinction between free speech and hate speech in order to curb the latter. This chapter undertakes an assessment of the role of the EC in countering hate speech. The larger analytical purpose in this regard is to highlight the difficulties involved in eliminating electoral hate speech while keeping the spirit of democracy intact and also to tease out various possibilities for institutional reform. The first part of the chapter decodes the thematic dimensions of hate speech employed by two of India&s;s major political parties and their allies in the last three parliamentary elections held in 2014, 2019 and 2024. This is followed by a detailed evaluation of the effectiveness of the existing institutional framework for clamping down on such extreme speech.