Monthly Monitoring Highlights – July

During the month of July, the RDN monitoring team identified a range of hateful narratives and discourse including sexism and misogyny, disinformation and hate speech and a range of unprofessional reporting from hate speech towards minors to historical revisionism. 

Relativisation and revisionism in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The 11^th of July marked the 31^st anniversary of the genocide committed against Bosniaks in Srebrenica. In response to this important date, major media outlets in the Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska including ATV, RTRS, BN, Glas Srpske and Nezavisne chose to report on the event using relativised and revisionist language. 

The coverage omitted judicially established facts, portrayed victims through their military affiliation and presenting the commemoration through narratives that diminished its significance.  There was no mention of the crime being committed being one of genocide.  The editorial teams chose to focus on the officials attending the commemoration and reported that the “Srebrenica 2026” commemorative gathering in Potočari “passed peacefully and with dignity.”

A particularly problematic media portrayal of the Srebrenica genocide anniversary was published by ATV, which republished a report by the SRNA news agency. SRNA has been documented in reports on genocide denial in Srebrenica as one of the media outlets that openly deny the genocide and engage in war-mongering propaganda. The anniversary commemoration was described as a “fair” and a gathering “seasoned with white flags featuring lilies, but without swords.” The report also stated that flowers were laid for “fallen Bosniak soldiers,” which is inaccurate and contradicts judicially established facts regarding the victims commemorated at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre. The report further focused on the sale of watermelons near the commemoration site and the fact that “barbecue smoke” could be seen in the vicinity of the event.

This type of media coverage, which openly relativises and avoids reporting established judicial facts relating to the genocide in Srebrenica, is not only historically incorrect but also extremely harmful and hurtful to the victims of the genocide and their loved ones. Moments like these in history must be remembered and properly commemorated, not only to honour those who were lost but also to help prevent such atrocities from happening again in the future. The media has a responsibility to report in a fair, accurate, and responsible manner rather than contributing to the relativisation of established facts or deliberately omitting important information.

Unprofessional reporting in Albania

On 8 June 2026, a 17-year-old girl in Fier was violently assaulted by three other girls (two aged 15 and one aged 20) inside a private residence. The victim was reportedly deceived into entering the premises under the pretext of a “surprise” or conversation. Once inside, she was subjected to severe physical and psychological violence by two of the perpetrators, while the third filmed the assault and encouraged its continuation.

The victim sustained visible injuries to her face and body and required hospital treatment. According to family accounts, she is experiencing significant psychological trauma, including fear, distress, and symptoms requiring psychiatric care.

Although the incident occurred in early June, it became widely known only in early July 2026 after video footage of the assault was circulated on social media platforms. The video spread rapidly and was subsequently picked up and broadcast by numerous online portals and television channels. The coverage on some online portals frequently included explicit and unfiltered footage of the violence, exposing the victim’s identity, facial injuries, voice, and personal details. In many cases, the identities of both the victim and perpetrators along with information about their families, schools, and neighbourhoods were publicly disclosed.

The media has a professional role not to share photos and private information of victims of crime. It is their responsibility to report in a manner which does not cause further danger or vulnerability to others.Sensationalistic reporting is extremely harmful to those involved and only serves to attract attention from readers rather than contribute to responsible and professional journalism.

Hate speech towards minors in North Macedonia

In North Macedonia, a seventh-grade girl from the Aerodrom neighbourhood in Skopje was allegedly subjected to severe peer violence and bullying. According to the reports, she was slapped, pulled by her hair, verbally abused, humiliated, and forced to kneel and apologise to another girl while around ten other minors recorded the incident on their phones and encouraged the behaviour. The videos were later circulated among students and sent to the media. People who obtained the footage went to the Lisice Police Station on June 30 to report the incident and provide the evidence, but they claimed that in reaction, the police officers told them they were not witness of the crime and that the victim herself needed to file the report. 

The case has sparked concerns about the growing problem of peer violence, the role of bystanders who record and encourage abuse instead of intervening, and the responsibility of institutions to protect children from violence and humiliation.

Following the incident, there were also cases of hate speech and calls for violence directed toward the minors involved. In North Macedonia, such cases often receive stronger institutional attention only after they become publicly visible through media coverage. While media reporting can play an important role in bringing attention to violence and encouraging authorities to react, it can also lead to a wave of online hate speech, threats, and public condemnation toward the children involved. This creates an additional challenge, as minors who are already part of a harmful situation can become targets of further digital harassment. Incidents like this highlight the need for more balanced responses that ensures accountability while also protecting children’s rights and preventing further harm. Peer violence and bullying remain recurring concerns in North Macedonia, showing the importance of prevention, education, and stronger support systems for both victims and young people involved in such incidents as well as professional media coverage of the events.

Sexist reporting in Montenegro

Following media reports on the adoption of menstrual leave for women diagnosed with secondary dysmenorrhea – menstrual pain caused by an underlying medical condition in the reproductive organs, such as endometriosis, adenomyosis, or uterine fibroids – multiple sexist and degrading reader comments appeared under articles published by Montenegrin media outlets, particularly Vijesti and CdM.

The comments portrayed women as lazy, dishonest, mentally unstable and likely to abuse workplace rights. Some questioned whether menstruating women were capable of holding managerial positions, while others suggested that women should be asked about menstrual health during job interviews. These comments went beyond legitimate criticism of the law and reinforced discriminatory stereotypes about women’s competence, reliability and role in the workplace.

The comments remained publicly visible in media-managed discussion spaces, showing how reporting on a women’s health and labour-rights measure generated a broader pattern of sexist hostility. In cases like this, the media has a role and responsibility to monitor their online comment section to prevent such sexist and misogynistic rhetoric from spreading online. Women’s health is important and in cases like these where the state steps in to help women suffering from secondary dysmenorrhea, this should be championed and upheld rather than undermined by sexist rhetoric.

Sexism and misogyny in Serbia

Gregor Magaš, a rapper and TikTok influencer, was a guest on Panjković’s (Vojislav Panjković) and WaiWai’s (Andrija Milivojević) podcast Voštcast. Magaš, known for his misogynistic songs and frequent use of the term ‘whore’ (like in his song ‘Whore says’ [Kurva kaže]), claimed on the show, that all women are whores. He explained that this means that no one woman is a whore, because all of them are. He then stated that they’re whores only if they don’t ‘give it to him’ – meaning those who refuse to have sex with him. Comparing the word ‘whore’ with a racial slur, he explained that women have the power to reclaim that word for themselves and so stop it from being derogatory. 

Not only does this place responsibility on women to undo misogyny, but it also assumes that it is possible for it to lose its derogatory connotation through reclamation. While these statements are non-factual, they are also incredibly misogynistic and harmful. It misinforms young boys and negatively impacts young girls. For example, it is not uncommon for young girls to record themselves on TikTok and Instagram lipsyncing Magaš’s songs, inevitably internalising the harmful narratives.

Vošcast is a well-known podcast that’s hosted celebrities like Aca Lukas, hosted by two popular influencers – Panjković and WaiWai. In ten days, the podcast with Magaš gathered over 100 thousand views, while the Youtube channel itself has 178 thousand subscribers. Magaš’s most popular song, ‘Whore says’ [Kurva kaže]  has 1.9 million streams on Spotify.

Sexism and misogyny hold no place in society and individuals with a platform and influence such as Magaš, who also have a large following, especially of young people, should not be promoting sexist, derogatory language aimed at women. 

Disinformation and online hate in Kosovo

Kosovo has witnessed an intense public debate, particularly among media figures and political officials, concerning a fake profile operating under the pseudonym Lule Gjeli. In 2020, under the same pseudonym, an article on the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia was published by the well-known media outlet Kallxo.com, which operates within BIRN (Balkan Investigative Reporting Network) under the leadership of Jeta Xharra.

However, over the past few years, through its Krypometer platform, this same media outlet has identified around 20 inaccurate or false pieces of information published by the individual using the pseudonym Lule Gjeli. The person behind the pseudonym has continued to use hate speech against any public figure who disagrees with the policies of the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti. Most recently, the individual even published a false death announcement claiming that senior Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) official Avdullah Hoti had died.

A considerable number of media outlets, public figures, and citizens reacted strongly to the publication of the false death announcement. At the same time, they began investigating who was behind the fake profile. They also called on BIRN, and specifically on Kallxo.com, to explain how it had been possible for the outlet to publish an article by this individual back in 2020. They asked who was behind the fake profile and what connection, if any, the media outlet had with a person who publishes false information and uses hate speech against critics of Albin Kurti.

Among those targeted by the fake profile was the Mayor of Pristina, Përparim Rama. He called on BIRN to reveal the identity of the person behind the profile. After receiving what he considered an unsatisfactory response, that they knew the person’s identity but had not disclosed the real name because there was a risk the individual could lose their job, Rama terminated the cooperation agreement with BIRN regarding the use of public space administered by the Municipality of Pristina.

Rama’s decision was criticized by Rron Gjinovci, who is widely known as a strong supporter of Albin Kurti’s policies. In a Facebook post, Gjinovci criticized Rama for the decision, stating that Rama “smells like manure” and that he “carries favour with the villagers of Pristina.”

Publishing false and incorrect information is extremely dangerous and can have a wide impact in society such as publishing a fake death announcement. Nevertheless, the decision of Gjinovci to publish hateful posts on his social media profile, is also unnecessary in these moments. People have the right to disagree with decisions and to express their opinions about them, but this can be done without resorting to spreading further hatred or personally attacking individuals.