Home > 2.5 Election campaign > Report on freedom of expression, prohibition of hate speech and promotion of pluralism in the context of electoral campaigns
 
 
 
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The issue of migration is one of the main political challenges for contemporary democracies and has thus become one of the central and most controversial topics of election campaigns in Europe and beyond. Election campaigns are at the core of democratic processes, aimed at the formation of representative bodies in conformity with the principles of universal, equal and free suffrage. It is thus essential to democratic elections and democracy itself that political debates during electoral campaigns are conducted in conformity with international standards, especially with regards to hate speech and disinformation. Pursuant to this requirement, considerations of this report concerning freedom of expression focus on political debates on migration and asylum but are equally applicable mutatis mutandis to any other groups within the population