ERC flags 111 hate-speech infractions during 2025 elections period
The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) recorded 111 infractions related to racially and religiously offensive content during the 2025 General and Regional Elections period.
This was revealed in the Commission’s Election Observation Report, which was handed over to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
The breaches were detected between July 1 and September 19, 2025, as the ERC’s Media Monitoring Unit tracked newspapers, broadcast outlets, political pages and high-traffic social media platforms for hate speech, racial hostility and other divisive content.
The report shows that racial slurs accounted for the highest number of cases, with 35 infractions. Intolerant, prejudiced or racially insensitive statements followed with 32 cases. Racially hateful statements were recorded 15 times, while racially divisive remarks appeared 11 times.
Smaller numbers of xenophobic, religiously hostile, racially stereotypical, inflammatory and derogatory comments made up the remainder.
The ERC said its monitors issued 64 cautionary warnings in July and August and a further 47 warnings in September, bringing the total to 111 for the pre- and immediate post-election environment. Many of these warnings were issued under cautionary notices referencing penalties in the Racial Hostility Act and the Representation of the People Act.
According to the report, the infractions were spread across both media and political actors. The ERC found the highest number of problematic posts on the News Source Facebook page, with 16 infractions, followed by KAMS TV with eight and Credible Sources with seven.
Despite the 111 incidents, the Commission described the 2025 environment as significantly improved compared to the 2020 elections, when levels of online hostility and racially charged rhetoric were much higher.
It credited extensive public education campaigns, its Countering Hate Speech initiative, and closer collaboration with regulatory agencies for helping to contain inflammatory content.
The ERC said the figures underline the continued need for vigilance, but also suggest that political messaging and public discourse during the 2025 polls were less toxic and less overtly racial than in the previous election cycle.
