On October 17, 2021, Kosovo held local elections to elect municipal mayors and representatives of municipal assemblies in 38 municipalities of Kosovo. In 21 municipalities where the candidates for mayor did not win the majority in the first round (50% +1), a second-round election was held on November 14, 2021. Despite the shortcomings in the legal framework and recurring challenges with respect to administration of out-of-country voting and lack of pluralism in Serb-majority municipalities, the elections were widely regarded as free and fair and representative of the will of the people.

During the 2021 local elections, Democracy for Development implemented a pilot project supported by the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD Centre), which aimed to engage political parties, candidates, media and civil society organizations in signing a Declaration of Good Conduct in Social Media. By signing these declarations, these stakeholders undertook commitments relevant to combatting hate speech, fake news, disinformation, slanderous language and other content that could negatively affect the election environment. The declarations were prepared in collaboration with election stakeholders in workshops held in August 2021 and were tailored to the specific actors and their role.

The electoral legislation does not provide for a definition of hate speech, although general provisions exist that prohibit it. For example, during the campaigning period a political entity, its supporters or candidates are prohibited from “using language, in oral or written form, which incites or provokes, or is likely to incite or provoke, another person to commit an act of violence against other persons or property, or which incites or is likely to incite hatred towards others, or publishing or using pictures, symbols or any other material that has or is likely to have such effects.