The 2022 elections offer India’s opposition parties an opportunity to challenge the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its dominance of the central government—and by extension, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is expected to again seek the premiership in 2024. Voters in five battleground states—Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand—take to the polls to elect representatives to their respective state legislative assemblies in February and March 2022. State legislative assemblies across India will vote to select members of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament, throughout the spring and summer. In July 2022, an electoral college composed in part by members of the state legislative assemblies and the Rajya Sabha will vote to select a president, a largely ceremonial role now held by Ram Nath Kovind.  Four of the states with legislative elections in spring 2022 are governed by the BJP, and are expected to be fiercely contested by opposition parties, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, often considered a key indicator for national politics.

While India is a multiparty democracy, the government led by Prime Minister Modi and the Hindu nationalist BJP has presided over discriminatory policies and a rise in persecution affecting the Muslim population. The constitution guarantees civil liberties including freedom of expression and freedom of religion, but harassment of journalists, nongovernmental organizations, and other government critics has increased significantly under Prime Minister Modi. Muslims, scheduled castes (Dalits), and scheduled tribes (Adivasis) remain economically and socially marginalized.

Freedom House has identified the following as key digital interference issues to watch ahead of the election period: 

• Internet shutdowns: India is a global leader in restricting internet connectivity. The frequency, geographic distribution, and duration of such restrictions have increased in recent years. Shutdowns are most often imposed during times of perceived unrest, such as protests, or as purported precautionary measures. For instance, authorities restricted connectivity in several states during the spring 2019 general election. State officials or local police could impose internet shutdowns during polls or alongside mass mobilizations relating to the elections, limiting free expression and cutting prospective voters off from critical information and discussion.
• Website blocks and content removals: Government actors regularly order platforms to remove online content, and sometimes block websites outright. The scope of such restrictions has increased in recent years, and stands to grow further: regulations passed in February 2021 impose new obligations for large social media companies to moderate and censor online content at the government’s demand. The limitations sometimes touch on political speech, such as the orders issued to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to remove criticism of the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in April 2021. Officials could seek to impose website blocks or order tech companies to remove content during the election period, potentially suppressing commentary about the elections, information about voting, or criticism of the government.
• Information manipulation: Political parties—particularly the BJP and, to a lesser extent, the opposition Congress party—seek to manipulate online content. The BJP hosts networks of paid and volunteer commentators who seek to shift partisan narratives on social media, which are active during elections: for instance, pro-BJP Twitter users coordinated to spread misleading information that favored the BJP during the spring 2021 elections in West Bengal. Such partisan efforts to manipulate the online information space could limit voters’ access to reliable reporting or guidance about the elections.
• Arrests and prosecutions: Journalists, activists, and ordinary social media users risk arrest and prosecution for online activities that officials deem objectionable, especially during major political events. Ahead of the spring 2019 elections, for example, Congress’s social media head was arrested for sharing a meme that called Prime Minister Modi a thief, while numerous online commentators were arrested throughout 2021 for social media posts criticizing the government’s response to the pandemic. Officials could arrest or prosecute journalists who report on elections online, impeding access to information, or could target candidates and party-linked figures, threatening the integrity of election outcomes. More generally, concerns about such restrictions could drive users to self-censor discussions about the polls.
• Harassment: Journalists, politicians, activists, members of marginalized communities, and ordinary users who post reporting or views critical of the government often experience coordinated online abuse, frequently deploying misogynist and anti-Muslim language. Some harassment campaigns appear to be connected to BJP supporters or directly involve BJP officials. For instance, a January 2022 investigation found that BJP-linked networks used an app called Tek Fog to coordinate online abuse directed at women journalists through Twitter and Facebook posts, and by hijacking unused WhatsApp accounts. Targeted online harassment could drive internet users to avoid sharing content about the elections, further degrading online expression and access to reliable information.

India has a score of 64 out of 100, with 100 representing the least vulnerability in terms of election integrity, on Freedom House’s Election Vulnerability Index, which is based on a selection of key election-related indicators. The score reflects elections generally regarded as free and fair, a closing space for freedom of expression, rising violence and discrimination against Muslims, and an online environment marred by censorship and manipulation. The country is rated Partly Free in Freedom in the World 2021, with a score of 67 out of 100 with respect to its political rights and civil liberties; and Partly Free in Freedom on the Net 2021, with an internet freedom score of 49 out of 100. To learn more about these annual Freedom House assessments, please visit the India country reports in Freedom in the World and Freedom on the Net.