“Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.” (Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights)

Freedom of expression is enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and protects citizens from interference with their right to freely express their opinions. This freedom is essential when it comes to the electoral process which, like any competition, has a strict framework of rules. Freedom of expression must not give rise to hate speech that would undermine the electoral process by polluting the campaign and political debate necessary for voters to make an informed choice.

This toolkit is intended to explain the international standards applicable in this respect, provide tools and strategies that can be used by election management bodies to counter hate speech harmful to free electoral competition and describe the Georgian experience in this area.

Table of contents

• FOREWORD
• PREFACE
• CHAPTER 1 – HATE SPEECH AND ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS
• CHAPTER 2 – HATE SPEECH AND ELECTION MANAGEMENT BODIES
• CHAPTER 3 – EXPERIENCE OF GEORGIA: HATE SPEECH DURING ELECTORAL PROCESSES
• APPENDIX – TRAINING MODULE
• FIGURES
• Figure 1: Systematic approach to counter hate speech
• Figure 2: Core engine of hate speech
• Figure 3: Hate speech pyramid
• Figure 4: Definition of hate crime
• Figure 5: Hate crimes reported to the police: bias motivation
• Figure 6: Hate crimes – By type of crime
• Figure 7: 2020 Presidential Elections – Hate speech on Twitter – monitoring results
• Figure 8: Hate speech in social media against women during Georgian 2020 elections
• TABLES
• Table 1: Biased attitudes and acts of bias
• Table 2: Hate crime legislation in Germany
• Table 3: Hate crime cases recorded by Georgian police
• Table 4: Threshold test for hate crimes
• Table 5: European Convention on Human Rights: Freedom of expression
• Table 6: Hate speech incidents against EMBs – Examples
• Table 7: Risk assessment – Hate speech against EMBs
• Table 8: Elements of a Code of Conduct for EMBs
• Table 9: Training of EMBs on hate speech
• Table 10: Analysis of hate speech risks in electoral campaigns
• Table 11: ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 15 on Combating Hate Speech: monitoring hate speech
• Table 12: How to recognise hate speech directed against women during election campaigns
• Table 13: ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 15 on Combating Hate Speech: effective action against hate speech
• Table 14: ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 15 on Combating Hate Speech: civic education
• Table 15: ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 15 on Combating Hate Speech: Codes of Conduct and penalties
• Table 16: ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 15 on Combating Hate Speech: regulation of media