Hate Speech & Media Laws in India: A Critique

Hate speech has emerged as a pressing concern in India as it possesses a significant challenge of maintaining public order in a society. It is not just limited to the broadcast media but has also parallelly accessed the digital space. In this Article, the Researcher aims to address the issue of hate speech in Indian context by firstly trying to define the concept of hate speech and then discussing upon the challenge of balancing the right to freedom of speech and expression versus hate speech and explaining the importance of distinguishing between hate speech and right of dissent which is fundamental to any democracy. This article also makes an analysis of the present laws on the subject and discusses the role played by the judiciary and the self – regulating bodies in tackling the issue of hate speech.