Violence and hate speech against politicians: a threat to democracy
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 21 April 2026 (12th and 13th sittings) (see Doc. 16363, report
of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, rapporteur:
Ms Elisabetta Gardini; and Doc.
16382, opinion of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination,
rapporteur: Ms Yevheniia Kravchuk). Text adopted by the
Assembly on 21 April 2026 (13th sitting).See
also Recommendation 2305
(2026).Provisional version subject to
editorial review.
1. Violence
against politicians is alarmingly on the rise in many Council of
Europe member and observer States. The Parliamentary Assembly unequivocally
condemns all forms of violence against politicians, and reaffirms
that violence has no place in democracy.
2. Representative democracy can only be achieved if political
candidates are allowed to campaign safely and peacefully, and if
elected officials are free to carry out their duties, with integrity
and based on a public conduct dedicated to the interest of the community
they represent, protected from any kind of harm. Any violent attack
on a politician, regardless of their political affiliation, should
be considered as an attack on democracy itself.
3. Politicians at all levels of government, and from all political
backgrounds, can be victims of violence: political candidates, party
members, elected officials and policy-makers with an institutional
role. Their relatives and associates are often affected, too.
4. Urgent action must be taken to prevent and counter violence
against politicians, as it fosters an atmosphere of fear which has
a chilling effect on democratic participation in political life.
5. Politicians who experience violence may feel compelled to
alter their behaviour, limit their participation in public events,
or reduce their engagement with constituents. They may also decide
to self-censor, avoiding discussion of certain controversial issues
or even changing their stance on certain policies. Eventually, they may
decide to step back from their role or choose not to stand for re-election.
Similarly, individuals who are considering entering politics may
be deterred by violence: this reduces pluralism and representativeness,
and affects the quality of democratic processes.
6. Intimidation, threats and other forms of verbal or physical
attacks can also have a critical impact on the mental well-being
of politicians, reducing their ability to work and serve the public.
7. Certain categories, including women politicians and representatives
of minority groups as well as young politicians and public officials,
are disproportionately targeted, through gender-based violence,
sexual threats, misogynist, LGBTI-phobic or racist attacks. They
therefore deserve particular attention, to ensure that they are not
discouraged from participating in politics, and to safeguard the
diversity and representativeness of elected officials.
8. The disenchantment of citizens with democratic processes and
institutions has been exacerbated by populist movements. At the
same time, fear-mongering, hate speech and dehumanising rhetoric
have become normalised in public discourse. This is fuelling the
political polarisation of democracies, characterised by heightened
tension and animosity among groups with opposing political views.
The deterioration of the political sphere creates fertile ground
for violence against politicians, which could spiral out of control.
9. The Assembly notes that violence against politicians can occur
in various forms, both online and offline. This violence can be
economic, psychological, sexual or physical in nature, and it can
range from verbal abuse and harassment to intimidation, physical
threats and attacks, and even lethal violence.
10. Online abuse against politicians includes, inter alia: sustained harassment
and co-ordinated attacks, such as the co-ordinated misuse of reporting
mechanisms with the intent to silence or unjustifiably suspend their
accounts; threats (including anonymous threats); doxxing and other
forms of unlawful disclosure of personal data; cyberstalking; impersonation;
and the dissemination of manipulated or deceptive content intended
to intimidate, silence or discredit politicians, including through
attacks targeting their relatives or associates.
11. The Assembly is also concerned about the increasing use of
deepfakes against politicians: these are audio recordings, images
or video generated or manipulated by artificial intelligence that
realistically depict a person saying or doing something they did
not say or do, including the fabrication or alteration of public statements
and the impersonation of politicians.
12. Acts of violence against politicians are often committed with
the ultimate goal of intimidating and silencing them, forcing them
to change their views, actions, or policies; yet, in many cases,
such violence is driven simply by disrespect and hatred, without
any clear objective.
13. The Assembly reiterates that robust political debate, that
includes sharp criticism and satire, forms part of democratic pluralism
and is protected under Article 10 of the European Convention on
Human Rights (ETS No. 5). However, threats, incitement to violence,
targeted harassment and dehumanising hate speech, whether online
or offline, are incompatible with a democratic society and cannot
be justified under the freedom of expression.
14. Choosing violence over dialogue is antithetical to all democratic
principles. In a vicious circle, the increased number of episodes
of violence against politicians is therefore a clear symptom that
democracy in Europe is backsliding, and is also one of the causes
of this backsliding, as violence undermines political participation,
representation and institutions, and ultimately democratic resilience.
15. The Assembly highlights that, in addition to internal societal
dynamics, violence and hate speech against politicians may be the
result of external interference and hybrid warfare strategies.
16. The Assembly recalls that the Heads of State and Government
of the Council of Europe adopted in 2023 the Reykjavik Principles
for Democracy, through which they committed to “ensure full, equal
and meaningful participation in political and public life for all,
in particular for women and girls, free from violence, fear, harassment,
hate speech and hate crime, as well as discrimination based on any
ground” (Principle 10).
17. Furthermore, the Assembly reiterates the conclusions of the
Conference of Presidents of Parliament held in Strasbourg on 20-21
March 2025, which indicate that violence against politicians undermines democratic
processes and erodes trust in institutions. The conclusions also
underline the need to make the fight against this phenomenon a priority,
to preserve democracy.
18. In this context, the Assembly welcomes the ongoing work of
the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of
Europe entitled “Preserving grassroots democracy – Tackling violence
against local and regional elected representatives”.
19. Considering the Council of Europe's ongoing initiatives towards
a New Democratic Pact for Europe, the Assembly believes that Council
of Europe member and observer States should renew their social contracts with
citizens through whole-of-society initiatives involving all relevant
stakeholders: national governments and parliaments, local authorities
and councils, the judiciary, law enforcement agencies, civil society
organisations, academic institutions, media and businesses.
20. The objective should be to reinstate appreciation for those
who decide to dedicate their time and efforts to public life, to
uphold the bonds that keep democracies together, and to strengthen
the boundaries of dialogue, respect, tolerance and mutual understanding
that prevent violence, thus reinforcing democratic security.
21. In line with these considerations, the Assembly calls on member
and observer States of the Council of Europe to:
21.1 adopt robust legislation that
recognises the different forms of violence against politicians as specific
criminal offences or aggravating circumstances, and imposes tougher
penalties where appropriate, in accordance with the principles of
legality, necessity and proportionality, to demonstrate zero tolerance
of this phenomenon;
21.2 introduce or strengthen legislation to prohibit or limit
the disclosure by law enforcement authorities of information concerning
ongoing investigations involving politicians at early stages without prior
judicial authorisation;
21.3 identify appropriate regulatory tools to prevent social
and traditional media from disseminating incitement to violence,
hate speech, dehumanising discourse or other inflammatory content,
while safeguarding freedom of expression, ensuring transparency,
due process and effective remedies and avoiding opaque delegations
to private actors in defining lawful political opinion, as well
as regulatory tools to observe if and how social media companies
deal with shadow banning and organised blocking campaigns that hinder
free speech of politicians;
21.4 promote safeguards against manipulated content (including
deepfakes) used to threaten, impersonate or incite violence against
politicians, focusing on authenticity and transparency measures such
as clear labelling of synthetic content, provenance/traceability
tools and effective and timely remedies (including notification
and right of reply), under transparent procedures and independent oversight,
without delegating to private actors the power to restrict lawful
political opinion;
21.5 make human and financial resources available to law enforcement
and the judiciary, to ensure that all forms of violence against
politicians are investigated and prosecuted swiftly, properly and effectively,
possibly through specialised units that can ensure appropriate levels
of co-ordination among the relevant authorities;
21.6 ensure that public institutions protect all political
voices equally when implementing anti-violence policies, avoiding
any ideological bias, respecting freedom of speech and freedom of
press, while fully ensuring that the fight against hate speech,
particularly racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic speech,
is implemented in compliance with the European Convention on Human
Rights;
21.7 protect the physical and psychological well-being of politicians
at all levels, with a particular focus on women politicians and
representatives of minority groups, without creating hierarchies
of protection and ensuring equal safeguards for all political voices,
ensuring their preparedness and safety by providing protection measures,
such as regular risk assessments, the provision of emergency buttons, alarm
systems, and enhanced democratic surveillance;
21.8 ensure that security frameworks move beyond static, rank-based
measures towards dynamic, threat-informed protection protocols;
specifically, for politicians targeted by aggressor States, protection must
be maintained as long as the threat persists, regardless of their
current official status, with particular emphasis on preventing
and countering intelligence-led cross-border operations;
21.9 combat the targeting of politicians’ private lives and
families, including doxxing and other unlawful disclosures of personal
data, by strengthening rapid-response reporting channels, effective
removal procedures for unlawfully disclosed personal data, and law-enforcement
follow-up, coupled with risk assessment measures to prevent escalation
into offline violence;
21.10 provide politicians at all levels with capacity building
on safety measures, guidelines on cybersecurity, legal and psychological
support, and other resources where needed;
21.11 strengthen debate spaces and opportunities for citizens
to participate through participatory and deliberative democracy
processes, including civil society organisations in them;
21.12 conduct public campaigns and implement learning programmes
for civic education and media literacy, to renew citizens’ civic
responsibility and trust in institutions, with a special focus on
younger generations;
21.13 promote cross-party dialogue and a political culture based
on transparency, respect and responsibility, as well as rejection
of violence and hate speech, across the entire political spectrum;
21.14 improve the collection of data at all levels, to properly
analyse the phenomenon; identify its underlying causes; categorise
the different methods and means of violence, and how they target different
groups, through an intersectional approach; assess how citizens
respond to episodes of violence against politicians; and monitor
the developments, to tailor relevant legislation and policies;
21.15 consider establishing a mechanism to identify, track and
raise awareness of specific threats or episodes of violence against
politicians at local, regional, and national levels.
22. The Assembly notes that politicians have a primary responsibility
to set an example of civic, tolerant and democratic conduct. It
therefore calls on politicians at all levels to refrain from using
inflammatory, dehumanising rhetoric and from inciting violence.
The Assembly also invites politicians to condemn all acts of violence,
in all their forms, especially when they are perpetrated against
their peers from different parties.
23. The Assembly reiterates its support for the work of the No
Hate Parliamentary Alliance, as a forum for discussion specialising
in measures to address hate speech.
24. Furthermore, the Assembly invites national parliaments and
local councils, as well as political parties to:
24.1 subscribe to the Charter of
European Political Parties for a Non-racist and Inclusive Society,
as endorsed by Resolution 2443 (2022) “The role of political parties
in fostering diversity and inclusion: a new charter for a non-racist
society”, and fully implement its provisions:
24.2 adopt dedicated codes of conduct, to avoid that politicians
target their peers from different parties with abusive behaviours;
24.3 adopt security protocols and monitoring and alert mechanisms
to provide adequate psychological and physical support to their
members when they are the victims of verbal or physical attacks.
