Promotion of tolerance and prevention of hate speech in media focus of OSCE Mission to Montenegro workshops in Budva and Kolasin

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in co-operation with the Agency for Electronic Media, organized two workshops for representatives of local public broadcasters on the promotion of tolerance and the prevention of hate speech in media, on 27 June 2018 in Budva and 28 June in Kolasin.

The goal of the workshops was to emphasize the significance of the occurrence of hate speech in media, provide participants with an opportunity to study concrete hate speech cases, and increase their awareness of the serious consequences of hate speech and intolerance targeting minority and vulnerable groups.

Topics discussed at the workshops included the jurisprudence and practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the Montenegrin legal framework in the area of combating hate speech, including online hate speech, specifically users' comments. Participants also examined relevant cases from Montenegro and the region.

“Prevention of hate speech and promotion of tolerance in the media is one of the OSCE Mission priorities,” said Samra Čampara, OSCE Media Programme Manager. “Good and effective co-operation with the Agency for Electronic Media and media outlets in the country is of crucial importance. Together we will continue to fight deliberate and violent hate speech through awareness-raising projects, education and regular meetings with media outlets, editors and journalists.”

Elvira Ceković, Head of Public Relations and General Affairs at the Agency of Electronic Media said that media literacy is of paramount importance in preventing hate speech: “Professional reporting and finding the right balance between freedom of expression and the protection of the right to privacy is of great importance and must always be taken into account.”

Dragan Popadić, Director of Radio Tivat, said: “Editors and media outlets have one of the most important roles: being responsible for preventing and combating hate speech.”

Đorđe Vujnović, Advisor to the Director of the Agency for Electronic Media, emphasized that consequences of hate speech leave a mark on vulnerable groups: “The Agency pays special attention to media literacy, which represents the foundation for improving media skills in dealing with and preventing occurrences of hate speech.”