North Macedonia
TROLL OF THE MONTH: Stefan Lazarov, YouTube influencer
The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate 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. A popular North Macedonian YouTuber and influencer by the name …
Monthly Monitoring Highlights: sexism, ethnic and religious tensions during February
Throughout the month of February, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month we have witnessed sexism, religious and ethnic discrimination, and homophobia in the Western Balkans media. Sexism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Albania In Bosnia and Herzegovina, portal Klix.ba published an article regarding the composition …
FIGHTING DISINFORMATION IN NORTH MACEDONIA
MALIGN AND UNDEMOCRATIC INFLUENCES ARE TRYING TO HOLD US BACK. Disinformation comes in waves. Sometimes you are flooded in it, other times it makes itself scarce. When the media landscape is flooded with news, the disinformation also becomes plentiful. And the other way around. The strength of a disinformation wave depends on the type of …
Monthly monitoring highlights: Sexism and ethnic discrimination
Throughout the month of January, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month, in the Western Balkans media, there has been sexism, ethnic discrimination and hate speech against political opponents. Ethnic discrimination in Kosovo and Montenegro In Kosovo, Shqipdon Salijaj, a freelance videographer from Kacanik, published a video …
WHEN FAILURE TO ACT IS A MURDER
Impunity for all forms of gender-based violence gives rise to distrust in institutions, and encourages the repeat of violence and its culmination in femicide. “A state that does not act is a state that kills” is one of the slogans that can be heard during the March 8 protest marches in the capital, Skopje, for …
SENSATIONAL HEADLINES BREED HATE SPEECH
Regardless of whether they post from their personal or fake profiles on social media, Macedonians, can be described as being very “eloquent” when it comes to spreading hate speech. Hate speech is not unknown to users of social media in Macedonia. On the contrary – when it comes to a stereotypical or political topic, the …
MONTHLY MONITORING HIGHLIGHT: Homophobia and ethnic discrimination throughout December
Throughout the month of December, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful discourse. There has been a rise in homophobia and ethnic discrimination in the region. Homophobia in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Kosovo The release of the animated children’s movie, Strange World by Disney has sparked much controversy within the …
Monthly Monitoring Highlight: Discrimination and hate in the Western Balkans media throughout November
Throughout the month of November, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month we have identified religious discrimination, sexism, anti-migrant rhetoric, and homophobia in the region. Religious discrimination in Montenegro The former president of the Municipal Assembly of Petnjica, Adnan Muhović, has made derogatory comments in reference to …
STRUGGLING FOR THE TRUTH IN THE BALKANS
The general lack of balanced discussion in the media in the Balkans deprives the public of accurate information and damages professional journalism. Civil society actors are using social networks to send different messages and fight disinformation, but their reach is limited and often includes people who are already aware of the issues. Yet, these voices are important in the struggle for truthful information and a just society.