Sexism, misogyny and hate speech towards women and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as hate speech based on ethnicity, are most prevalent in Western Balkan media and something that is common to the whole region, according to the results of media monitoring in the Western Balkans which followed problematic trends in reporting on social diversity.

These results were presented at the regional conference ‘Where have diverse voices gone’ in Belgrade. Monitoring of hate speech and representation of diversity is conducted within the Reporting Diversity Network 2.0.

The findings were presented by media experts from the region: Kristina Lani (Albanian Media Institute), Leila Bičakčić (Center for Investigative Journalism), Violeta Oroshi Berishaj (Kosovo 2.0), Željana Kandić (Center for Investigative Journalism Montenegro), Bojan Georgievski (Institute for Communication Studies Skopje) and Ivana Jovanović (Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans).

Sexism, misogyny and hate speech towards women and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as hate speech based on ethnicity, is the most prevalent discourse  in Western Balkan media according to the results of the media monitoring in the region which assesses  problematic trends in reporting on social diversity.

These results were presented at the regional conference ‘Where have diverse voices gone’ in Belgrade, May 5, 2022.  The monitoring of hate speech and representation of diversity is conducted within the Reporting Diversity Network 2.0.

The conference was opened by Milica Pešić, Executive Director of Media Diversity Institute, Tatjana Prijić, deputy Commissioner for the Protection of Equality in Serbia, and Victor Dragutan, Programme Manager at the European Commission’s Media and Civil Society unit,   who all highlighted the importance of fair and balanced representation of social diversity in the media. While addressing the participants, Prijić highlighted the efforts that the office of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality does in order to react to hate speech and ensure the equal treatment of all social groups in Serbian society.

“European Union takes increasingly bold steps to support democracy and freedom of expression, that depends of course on media freedom, pluralism, independence and viability, as well as on the ability of journalists to do their job without fear. Diversity and making all voices heard, which is the topic of the conference today, is of utmost importance too”, said Dragutan after commenting on increased polarisation in media globally, the spread of the “Fox News model” of opinion media, disinformation circuits amplified by social media.

The RDN2.0 media monitoring findings were presented at the conference by media experts from the region: Kristina Lani (Albanian Media Institute), Leila Bičakčić (Center for Investigative Journalism), Violeta Oroshi Berishaj (Kosovo 2.0), Željana Kandić (Center for Investigative Journalism Montenegro), Bojan Georgievski (Institute for Communication Studies Skopje) and Ivana Jovanović (Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans).

“Hate speech along gender lines mainly presents itself in the form of victim blaming, perpetuation of the tradition that women should possess virtue, as well as objectification of women for entertainment” said Kristina Lani from the Albanian Media Institute.

Željana Kandić from the Center for Investigative Journalism Montenegro pointed out that in Montenegro, the most frequent targets of hate speech are women who are engaged in public affairs.

“Most often, women who are engaged in public affairs are targeted, i.e., politicians, journalists, representatives of the NGO sector. In the last few years various examples of misogyny have been noticed – from insulting comments, through to caricatures in which women are shown naked and in an inferior position, all the way to death threats” said Kandić.

Ivana Jovanović from Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans said that the situation is not any better in Serbia, and that the results show that women are the most exposed to hate speech and gave the example of the media with a national frequency that in 2021 participated in the secondary victimisation of women who reported rape allegations and sexual harassment allegations.

“Certain tabloids, as well as televisions with national frequencies, spread narratives that shift the blame to the victim who reported (sexual) violence, as well as conspiracy theories that rape and sexual harassment allegations ‘represent an attack on Serbia’ and thus they participate in the secondary victimisation of victims” said Jovanović.

The panellists said that the targets are those who challenge traditional values, such as women who are fighting for their emancipation or members of the LGBTQ+ community who do not fit the traditional norms.

Bojan Georgievski from the Institute for Communication Studies Skopje also pointed out the role of social networks when he spoke about the ‘Public Room’ case – the Facebook group within which men shared private pictures of women without their consent. Georgievski also noted that this case is in a way an example of good practice, because the administrators of the group were punished with imprisonment, but he also pointed out how this case pointed out the weaknesses of the system, as it took a year to process the case.

Ethnicity is also a sensitive category of social diversity and the results in all six countries can confirm this. The reporting on neighbouring countries is problematic, and there exists particularly sensitive topics such as the Serbia-Kosovo relations or the wars of the 1990s.

“When journalist Pero Jovović went to Pristina for the festival ‘Mirëdita, dobar dan!’ and posted it on his private Facebook profile, pro-government tabloids used it as to target him and his media outlet, which led to Jovović receiving death threats on social networks. A similar thing happened to activists as well as journalists who reported on the mural of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić. From these examples we can see that the media are very often generators of hate speech” said Jovanović.

Violeta Oroshi Berishaj, who followed the media coverage in Kosovo, also pointed out the relations between Pristina and Belgrade as the initiators of negative trends in the media, which then spill over into social networks. She also spoke about how the media often do not use open hate speech, but the way they report influence public opinion, which is then manifested in an avalanche of hate speech on social networks.

Leila Bičakčić from the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIN) of Bosnia and Herzegovina pointed out that the media in the region are polarised and follow in the footsteps of politicians. The findings from the research confirm that politicians in the Western Balkans are often the initiators of rhetoric that encourages social divisions and hate speech.

What is also common to all Western Balkan societies is the absence of Roma from the media. Interestingly, the monitoring findings do not show many examples of hate speech against Roma. However, this is an indicator of an equally negative trend – Roma are reported only on the occasion to mark World Roma Day or in reports on crime and similar negative contexts. Conference participant, Kristina Lani, called this “hate silence”.

At the conference ‘Where have diverse voices gone’ media representation of diversity was further explored through several panels that dealt with the importance of creating counter-narratives, the thin line between freedom of speech and hate speech, the role of social networks in spreading hate speech, but also in fighting against it. Also, a panel with representatives of regulatory and self-regulatory bodies from the Western Balkans aimed to raise discussion about existing practices to combat hate speech and harmful practices in media representation of social diversity, as well as the cooperation of civil society with institutions.

Throughout the month of April, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month there has been a rise in ethnic discrimination, sexism, and homophobia in the Western Balkan region.

Ethnic discrimination in North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

The now-former Secretary-general of the Government of North Macedonia, Muhamed Zeqiri, was arrested on  suspicion of abuse of his official position of authority. Muhamed Zeqiri has been accused, alongside two Croatian citizens, for concluding a contract for public procurement of consulting services with a legal entity without conducting a public call for the procurement, thereby damaging the state budged by a total of 795,000 euros. He has now been imprisoned and is currently serving a 30-day detention.

Following his sentence, a Twitter user posted a picture of Zeqiri during his imprisonment, while taking a walk outside, with the caption “is there something more beautiful than an Albanian in prison?”

The public in North Macedonia is inclined towards believing that Albanian politicians are often spared from arrest and imprisonment despite law breaking, due to the political allegiances between the political figures and Albanian political parties.  Thus, hateful and discriminatory narratives are often presented along ethnic lines as seen in this Twitter post. This comment on Twitter was motivated and rooted by a similar belief, further fuelling tension between the two ethnic communities.

In Serbia, the Instagram page Bunt Kosovo and Metohija is one which shares numerous pro-Russian posts including denying the crimes and acts of violence in Ukraine, labelling it as ‘Western propaganda’. Furthermore, they publicly deny the Srebrenica genocide, equating these – what they call – ‘fake crimes’ in Ukraine to the ‘made up genocide in Srebrenica’.

The post itself read “The Ministry of Defence in Ukraine published a disturbing video in which it informs that during the previous few weeks, civilians in Bucha were randomly killed, some with their hands tied behind their backs, and bodies were scattered on the city streets. They called Bucha ‘the new Srebrenica”. At the bottom of the post was written “Russia must win this war. Work, brothers, everything is fine at home!”.

This post is harmful and problematic for a number of reasons. The war in Ukraine is an extremely sensitive issue with many people falling victim to the conflict. Apart from spreading unverified claims, harm is done by labelling Srebrenica as a ‘fake crime’, undermining the Srebrenica victims and casualties in the 1990s. Posts such as these promote ethnic discrimination and divisions amongst the public, further opening the wounds of the conflict in the 90’s, which remains highly sensitive and polarising topic in the Balkan region.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Twitter page ‘Samopoštovanje’ (samo_postovanje) tweeted a post which read “by forcing lies and half-truths, we will not reach reconciliation, but we will only sink deeper into mistrust, disbelief and even hatred”. The group Samopoštavanje is a group which comes from Prijedor, who present themselves as a group which wants to restore national and cultural self-esteem.

Despite the fact that the Hague Tribunal’s ruling has confirmed that the Prijedor Crisis Staff in 1992 had ordered both Bosniaks and Croats from the area to wear white stripes on their upper arms as a sign of their ethnicity, the Samopoštovanje group denies this. Attached to the twitter post is a YouTube video titled ‘A lie called a white stripe’.

By denying the events which took place during the war in the Balkans in the 90s, including the experiences of the victims of Prijedor war crimes, these statements actively spread misinformation and disinformation regarding historical events. These events have both been confirmed and ruled by the Hague Tribunal. By further denying and labelling these events as ‘half-truths and lies’, it is both insensitive to those who fell victims and those who lost loved ones in Prijedor, but also harmful for the reconciliation process and building peace in the region.

Homophobia in Kosovo

Following the election assembly, the Union of Kosovo Tarikats issued a joint statement in which amongst other things, it expressed a wish to cooperate with institutions; “the Union of Tarikats especially wants to work together with institutions in Kosovo in building a society without prejudice, which we know as racism, ethnic hatred, misogyny and Islamophobia, Sufi-phobia, and other exclusive forms that undermine trust and understanding in society”. As a result of this statement, several influential online media such as “Gazeta Express” and “Insajderi” claimed in their headlines regarding this news, that this religious community advocates same-sex marriage. The headline reads: “The first religious community to support same-sex marriage”. This inaccurate headline, also published on their Facebook page, provoked mostly negative comments in which various individuals used hate speech aimed at the Union of Kosovo Tarikats and the LGBTQ+ community. The Secretary of the Union, Sheh Lulzim Shehu told several media outlets that same-sex marriages are decided by the state, and that this issue should be resolved by law, but that they are against homophobia.

The Union of Kosovo Tarikats has around 250,000 believers, and the general public considers the dervishes members of the Islamic religion. However, the Union has refused to be part of the Islamic community of Kosovo. Unlike the three largest religious communities in Kosovo (Islamic, Catholic and Orthodox) which openly oppose same-sex marriage and the LGBTQ+ community in general, believing them to be dangerous to the future of mankind, the Union of Kosovo Tarikats have very different, more liberal ideas and attitudes on these topics.

This case is an example of the news fully taken out of its original context, resultingd in hate speech and narratives targeting various communities and individuals. The media has a duty to report factually and accurately, especially when the news has an effect on marginalised groups in society.

Sexism in Albania and Montenegro

In the feature by Top Channel on the rising number of divorces in Albania, divorce lawyer Vjollca Pustina argued that women are becoming initiators of divorces in most cases as “they can no longer stand being violated by their spouses”. The economic independence of women was also listed as another factor and contributor to the rising divorce rates. The headline read “Why is the number of divorces increasing? The lawyer: women can no longer stand violence”.

The framing of the statement, as well as the headline provided by Top Channel, are prime examples of victim blaming. Divorce is seen as a social problem, and in Albania is often still seen by many as ‘scandalous’. However, the real social problem lies in the gendered abuse and violence, which should be considered as a much more serious issue than simply a factor in divorce rates. Such headlines and statements divert attention from the true, root cause of the issue. Many women are victims of domestic violence and abuse, and so offering a platform to narratives suggesting it is simply a factor in divorce rates rather than an issue of concern in itself is a problematic approach to the topic.

In Montenegro, the MP of the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists, Dragica Sekulić, was a victim of brutal insults as a result of a Twitter post where she criticised the measures of the Minister of Economic Development Jakov Milatović, who suggested that every new-born in a municipality with negative natural growth should receive one thousand euros and with positive natural growth, 500 euros. At that time, Milatović held a meeting with the Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Joanikije.

Sekulić stated on Twitter that “if you choose to give birth in a certain municipality, you will receive 500 or 1,000 euros, with the blessing of the priest. Is it worth it?” in reference to that meeting. Following her post, Sekulić was attacked with vulgar insults on the basis of her gender on the Facebook page of the portal I Love Podgorica, which published her tweet. Nearly 400 comments, dominated by hate speech, are still on the site.

The attacks on Sekulić were condemned by almost all of the opposition parties, as well as non-governmental organisations and members of the Montenegrin parliament, with appeals to the authorities to react urgently.

This case has an interesting follow up, as MP Sekulić has announced lawsuits against authors of 381 online comments as well as the portal I Love Podgorica because they did not remove the comments fast enoughThis could set a precedentin the sense of extending the editorial responsibility on social media.

This case sparked debates about free speech, which is a continuous struggle for the legal system as well as other institutions charged withits supervision. In addition, there is discussion about the privileged position of public figures compared to private individuals, who would rarely be able to initiate such legal response.

The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate on the internet based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkans region.

April Troll is Duda Balje, the President of the Social Democratic Union and Member of the Assembly of Kosovo, who spread hate speech directed at an individual contributing to a surge of hateful attacks and violent threats against the individual and her family.

Recently, the director of the Nexhmedin Nixha Technical High School in Gjakova/Đakovica, Florentina Gjergjaj, was forced to resign from her position due to a wave of hateful and personal attacks towards herself and her family.

It all started following the revelation of a set of school rules which included a headscarf ban on wearing a headscarf alongside other bans including carrying weapons, wearing make-up, and more. The headscarf ban led to an outcry and backlash towards Gjergjai as this ban is thought to be her decision. As a result, Florentina Gjergjaj was asked to step down from her role as director of the technical school at the insistence of Gjakova/Đakovica County Educational Director Eranda Kumnova.

Following the revelation of the situation and of the ban itself which spread amongst the public, Gjergjaj received an overwhelming number of personal attacks on various social media. The comments and attacks were directed personally at her and her family and included, among other things, threats of burning down her house.  As a result of these attacks, she and her family were forced to move away, and they are even considering leaving Kosovo.

Florentina Gjergjaj reported the hateful comments and threats she was receiving to the police which, in her opinion, stem from the reaction of MP Duda Balje, who publicly addressed and called out Gjergjaj to answer regarding the school’s ban.

Balje, among other things, wrote on her Facebook profile “Director of the Secondary Technical School ‘Nexhmedin Nixha’, in Gjakova/Đakovica, Mrs. Florentina Gjergjaj, on the basis of which Constitution or law did you set the symbols of prohibition?! I agree with some of them, but the symbol of the girl with the headscarf and comparing symbols in this way is scandalous and an insult to every citizen and our Republic, not excluding religious beliefs”.

This was seen as an instigation to the stream of hate speech and threats that Gjergjaj and her family received.

Most threats and comments that Florentina Gjergjaj received were based on religious grounds. In the context and period of Ramadan or Eid, the media and headlines focused on a variety of topics including that of the permission of individuals to wear headscarves in primary and secondary schools. The President of the Islamic Community of Kosovo, Mufti Naim Ternava stated that he believed the case at the Technical High School to be an omission as in no case can a headscarf be equated with a weapon or alcohol and other negative things.

That headscarf ban was probably imposed at an earlier stage, but was rather used at this timing to initiate a public conversation on the topic itself.

There is an Instruction by the Ministry of Education which does not allow underage girls to wear headscarves in schools. Indeed, following this case, the ‘Kosovo’s Islamic Community Council has requested from ‘the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, to remove the ban of wearing religious symbols in high schools’.

In addition, it is believed that the fact that Gjergjaj is a Christian Catholic adds another layer to this story as her religion have been misused in some comments directed at her.

Almost every media in Kosovo covered this case and incident at the Technical High School in Gjakova/Đakovica, reporting primarily in a professional and correct manner. However, there were also a number of comments on social media networks which insulted and demanded punishment for Florentina Gjergjaj whilst others defended her, reminding the public that Kosovo is a secular state.

This incident is one surrounding the important topic of religious freedom and individual rights in Kosovo. As a result of the direct targeting by MP Duda Balje and other social media users, both Florentina Gjergjaj and her family were forced to move away from their home and are even considering moving out of the country altogether. Both her and her family have fallen victims to hate speech and violent threats as a result of social media trolls and comments.

Throughout the month of March, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. Cases of ethnic discrimination, religious hate speech and homophobia continue to influence the relations within societies in the Western Balkan region as well as the relations between neighbouring countries.

Sexism in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia

In early March, the canton of Sarajevo Government decided to instigate the fight against menstrual poverty by providing free pads for female students.

Nevertheless, despite menstrual poverty being an extremely important and pressing issue, this decision was not approved or supported by the representatives of the national parties. Namely, the MP of the largest Bosniak party, Salko Zildžić, turned to ridiculing and mocking the decision altogether. He went on to sarcastically comment on the decision during a parliamentary session, saying: “The prime minister of the most potent canton with a budget of one billion and more is dealing with menstrual poverty”.

Menstrual poverty is a serious topic and issue which affects women and girls worldwide. Despite various efforts to combat the issue of menstrual poverty, having a member of parliament express negative and sarcastic comments regarding the topic merely pushes aside the need to confront and effectively deal with the issue at present. Having such sarcastic comments being made in parliament, which is both streamed live on traditional media such as the television and other social media platforms such as Facebook, further spreads and reproduces these negative attitudes in wider society.

Such comments are a reflection of a misogynistic and patriarchal society that views menstrual poverty rather as a ‘women’s issue’ that deserves no place in the public sphere or on the Government’s agenda.

In Serbia, info portal Kurir.rs published a headline which read “relationships with a student only after the exam!? Marić spoke out about the affair at the Faculty of Law”.

Psychiatrist Jovan Marić told Kurir that some female students are responsible for being targeted by their professors because they send the wrong signals with their dress code and attitude.

He commented “female student comes for the summer exam period, the push-up is here, she’s wearing two sizes smaller t-shirts, so everything falls out, and on top of that she’s wearing a miniskirt and sitting across from you. What exactly should I watch first? Thighs which I can see the whole length of or something else? And who is now sexually harassed? Well, me, of course, because I have to look at that object, so to speak”. He went on further to claim that he is “sexually harassed because I have to watch that nudity”.

This narrative is extremely dangerous and problematic. By flipping the narrative to place blame on women who have fallen victims to instances of sexual harassment and misconduct by their professors, this further spreads victim-blaming narratives. This can also result in other students and young women who find themselves in these situations staying silent and fearing speaking out due to such misogynistic and sexist responses which are common within Balkan society.

No matter what a women wears, it is never an excuse or justification for misconduct and sexual harassment of any sort. And it is never her fault, the blame is on the perpetrator.
Within an educational institution, where professors hold a position of power and influence, it is even more pressing that they hold themselves accountable, and act respectfully and professionally.

The narratives expressed by Maric run the risk of spreading further sexism and victim blaming as well as downplaying the issue of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour.

Ethnic discrimination in Kosovo and Montenegro

Tense political relations between Kosovo and Serbia are being reflected in the trade relations between the two countries.In the last two decades there has been a growing trade crisis and a call to boycott Serbian products, which are most prevalent in the Kosovo market.

On the Facebook page of group ‘Besa Besë’, a video was published of a commercial by Burim Piraj which calls on the citizens of Kosovo to boycott Serbian products. The advertisement shows a girl with her father in a market where they buy their groceries. At the moment when the father takes a Serbian product from the shelf, the girl tells her father “Didn’t our grandmother tell us not to buy Serbian products? Do you want to poison us? Didn’t they kill Abetara’s whole family? Is Abetara left alone now?”

This video is extremely problematic for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is clear that Serbian products are not really poisonous. Secondly, and probably most worrying, is the use of children within the video. This strongly violates the ethical code whereby children are used as a pawn within a political video. Furthermore, such false narratives serve to further deepen tensions between ethnic communities in Kosovo.

The video itself has received over 800 likes on Facebook.

In Montenegro, cdm.me recently published an article with the headline “Perović said that he could not understand such a story and campaign against Russian military action”.

The priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), Gojko Perović, called the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine a “military action” and further went on to state that it was both a “political and media ideology that goes beyond human reason”. He furthermore commented “But I can’t understand such a campaign against the military action without anyone remembering that an entire nation was deported from Croatia in our neighbourhood…Nobody wrapped themselves in Serbian flags then, nobody made any performances”.

These narratives and comments are especially problematic if we keep in mind the great number of supporters of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, as well as the fact that Montenegrin society is deeply polarised. This polarisation includes a certain political parties and supporters who are pro-Russia.

The recent war in Ukraine has been a tragic and devastating moment for many around the globe. In the Western Balkans region, it is used to deepen existing divisions.

Spreading these narratives of division on various info portals and in national publications can be extremely triggering and upsetting for those who have fallen victims to the violence and conflict in Ukraine at this time.
In the context of war, the media has an even greater responsibility to share verified and fact-checked knowledge and information rather than spreading hate speech and harmful narratives.

Homophobia in Albania

JOQ Albania recently published a headline which read “Non-approval of the Gay Code/Imam Shefqet Krasniqi: We are saved from the wrath of the almighty God!”. The article itself was based around the recent non-passing of the amendment to the Kosovo Civil Code to include LGBTQ+ civil partnerships. The article quoted religious figure Imam Shefqet Krasniqi in its headline.

The comments on both the Facebook and Instagram links to the article were extremely hateful and problematic. For instance, one comment praised communist leader Enver Hoxha for “detaining them [referring to gay men] in the women’s prison due to fear of infecting other men in prison”.  The Instagram post about the article has amassed over 11k likes.

However, this is not the first time this month that such a hateful, homophobic narrative was spread and upheld by JOQ Albania, who published another headline which read “Local media: Ukrainian homosexuals arm themselves to defend homeland”.

This article reported on the fact that Ukrainian media has recently reported on the LGBTQ+ community in Ukraine taking up arms in order to defend their homeland, fearing even more oppression if Russia were to win.

The comments on the Instagram link to the article further resulted in a similar pattern of hateful, strongly homophobic narratives. One comment read “hopefully you become less, you have increased in number like mushrooms after the rain”. The comments were extremely and overwhelmingly hateful, with users alluding to the hope that Ukrainians from the LGBTQ+ community die in the war so as to “become less in number”.

JOQ Albania has both a moral and ethical duty to monitor the information they publish on their website in order to prevent the upsurge of hateful, homophobic narratives and comments from being perpetuated. It has been made clear that JOQ Albania runs an openly homophobic editorial line. Article headlines are left ambiguous on purpose resulting in the incitement of homophobic hate speech within the comments.

Hate speech in North Macedonia

In North Macedonia, the Minister of Defence, Slavjanka Petrovska, was recently welcomed at a reception by the Honorary Guard of the United Kingdom. During the welcoming, the Guard played the Macedonian folk song ‘Jovano, Jovanke’ in her honour. Following the welcoming, a large number of social media posts and content went on to attack the minister, calling her a number of derogatory and insulting names. They claimed that what occurred at the welcoming was a disgrace as the Guard did not play the national anthem.

One user (Robert Mileski) published a video on Facebook depicting a naked man holding a gun, appearing out of the woods. The caption said: “Slavjanka spotted by CNN cameras in the battle for Stalingrad. Putin, hold on!”.

Following this stream of insults and offensive narratives targeted at the minister herself, the British Embassy in North Macedonia issued a statement on the debate amongst the public, followed by a statement on the inappropriate speech on social media networks.

The statement form the embassy read: “Yesterday, Minister Petrovska was welcomed by the Honorary Guard composed of the Coldstream Guard when she arrived for a meeting with the Minister of Defence of the United Kingdom. As is usual for this type of guard, the music segment “Scorpius” was played at the beginning. As a sign of respect, before the Minister greeted the guards, a segment of Macedonian folk music, “Jovano, Jovanke” was played. The national anthem is played only when the Honorary Guard welcomes Heads of State.”

The video itself has more than 180 comments, with many more adding to and joining the escalating hate speech towards the minister. The post also has over 700 shares. Such insulting and discriminatory rhetoric is extremely harmful and problematic, especially when it is further shared across social media.

The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate on the internet based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkans region.

March Troll is TV show ‘Why Not?’ hosted by influencer and celebrity Roza Lati, which displayed a strong sexist attitude during the late-night show.

Ora TV is a television channel with a national frequency across Albania. TV show ‘Why Not’ is hosted by influencer and celebrity Roza Lati from 9pm onwards on Saturday nights. Recently, during the late-night show, Roza Lati invited a guest, Majk, onto the programme. During the show, the guest was asked to play a sort of drumming ‘game’ by playfully tapping/spanking on the buttocks of two women onstage. This action effectively portrayed the women as sexual objects for male entertainment.

Whilst the show does have an +18 disclaimer, thereby theoretically warning the public of possible inappropriate behaviour for underage audiences, Roza Lati herself posted this particular segment of the show on her Instagram page, where she has more than 800k+ followers.

However, the +18 disclaimer of the TV show does not justify the sexual objectification of women. The content displayed can very clearly be seen as both derogatory and sexist. Indeed, this is not the first time that this particular show has received criticism. The Audio-visual Media Authority has given warnings previously to Roza Lati for including vulgar language in the show and references to drug use. They have also previously fined the show. Ora TV has both a moral and legal duty to monitor and moderate the content of their production and programmes. By allowing such displays and incidents to occur, such content goes under the radar.

Following a number of criticisms on the basis of the content, Roza Lati went on to block the comment function on her Instagram post and followed up with a tirade on her Instagram stories. On there, she argued that the women whose buttocks were tapped/spanked were in actual fact strippers, thereby suggesting some form of justification. Furthermore, she followed up by posing the question “Do you feminist women not like to be spanked in the behinds?”. Even more concernign were her additional comments based on sexist narratives. Roza Lati went on to further perpetuate sexism by stating that “there are many comments from frustrated ‘honourable’ women, ‘virgins’, about the girls’ behinds, which these women could never have…”.

The Instagram post itself where Roza Lati shared the problematic segment has received over 14k likes.

Although Roza Lati’s profile indeed has an age restriction thereby preventing those under 18 from gaining access, that does not mean that we can underestimate her responsibility and duty to monitor what she shares and posts on her social media. It is well-known that on social media, young people have the means to manipulate and lie about their age and so there is no substantial way of controlling or monitoring the true age ranges of Roza Lati’s followers.

It is extremely problematic that a public figure with such a large audience is effectively objectifying women on prime-time television and on social media, and, in addition, justifying herself using even more sexist rhetoric against fellow women. By uploading such content on her private social media profile, followed by a cascade of Instagram stories spreading sexist and derogatory narratives and comments in regards to women and feminists, she is only spreading further misogyny and sexism in society.

RDN 2.0 has reacted to this incident by addressing a letter to Ora TV in which we emphasise our consistent advocacy for the ‘appropriate and ethical representation of women in the media’ as a stepping stone towards equal rights of women.