What's New

News and updates from BCSDN and the region

ARTICLE 19’s Campaign #CheckitFirst: Verifying News in the Western Balkans

In the Western Balkans, media often serves political interests instead of truth, jeopardizing democracy and perpetuating disinformation. #CheckitFirst, launched by ARTICLE19, addresses this challenge by advocating for ethical journalism in BiH, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. By collaborating with journalists and media professionals, the campaign aims to enhance the accuracy of news reporting and promote media

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Reporters Without Borders: Declining Press Freedom in the Balkans

Reporters Without Borders reports declining press freedom in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Serbia. Factors contributing to this regression include political pressure, direct attacks on journalists, and restrictions on media outlets. Kosovo and BiH experienced significant drops, with concerns over political influence on public broadcasters and harassment of journalists. Albania faced challenges such as

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Civic Uprising: Resilient Response to Electoral Challenges in Serbia

The recent Serbian elections underscored severe threats to democracy, characterized by violations of basic human rights and a lack of accountability among public authorities, reflecting a broader erosion of democratic values. In response to these issues, together with Civic Initiatives, on 17 April we hosted an online discussion on electoral integrity in Serbia amidst civic

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Consultation with the Fundamental Rights Platform on Funding for the Promotion, Protection and Enforcement of Fundamental Rights

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) is conducting a consultation with its civil society network to gather insights on the added value of EU funding for fundamental rights and areas needing further development. The results will contribute to the European Commission’s 2024 Annual Report on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights with a focus

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ICNL: An Analysis of the Foreign Influence Registration Laws and Civil Society

ICNL’s report develops a typology of salient features of foreign influence registration laws to assess their potential impact on civil society and to help compare and contrast these laws across countries. It then shares key recommendations for substantive arguments against overbroad foreign influence registration laws and potential response strategies. Governments worldwide have implemented foreign influence

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ARTICLE 19: Next European Commission Must Strive for an Open Information Environment

The upcoming European Parliament elections and the selection of a new European Commission in June 2024 present an opportunity for the EU to reaffirm its commitment to freedom of expression and access to information. ARTICLE 19 highlights key priorities for the incoming Commission, advocating for an open, fair, and inclusive information environment. These priorities include

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Albania: SCiDEV Concerns on the Special Parliamentary Committee on Disinformation

SCiDEV raises concerns about Albania’s proposed parliamentary committee to address disinformation, questioning its necessity and scope. While acknowledging the importance of the issue, SCiDEV argues that existing mechanisms, like the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Means of Public Information and the Parliamentary Committee on Security, can handle the matter adequately. Reports on media freedom (Reporters

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CoE’s Recommendation: A Significant Milestone in the Fight Against SLAPPs

The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers adopted the Recommendation on countering the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). The newly adopted Recommendation provides a definition of SLAPPs, understood “as legal actions that are threatened, initiated or pursued as means of harassing or intimidating their target, and which seek to prevent, inhibit, restrict

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EU Defence Of Democracy Package: Proposal for Directive Lacks Clarity and Legal Certainty on Key Definitions

ENCL’s latest position paper analyzes how the proposed Directive of the European Parliament and the Council establishing harmonised requirements in the internal market on transparency of interest representation carried out on behalf of third countries and amending the previous Directive may unnecessarily and disproportionately impact CSOs’ activities, as well as their freedom of expression, association,

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Albania: SafeJournalists Condemn Coordinated Attacks on Citizens Channel

The SafeJournalists Network expresses concern over coordinated efforts to undermine Citizens Channel, an independent media outlet in Albania. Recent actions to remove its content from Facebook, citing violations such as spam or rule-breaking, threaten independent journalism and citizens’ right to quality information. Such attacks not only infringe on journalistic rights but also intimidate other media

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