OSCE media freedom representative and head of OSCE Mission to Montenegro welcome work on guidelines for moderating online comments in Montenegro
VIENNA, 25 July 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Maryse Daviet, welcomed today the latest efforts by the Montenegrin Technical Working Group on Self-Regulation in developing guidelines for moderating online comments in Montenegro.
“Media self-regulation is an important mechanism to promote quality information, to safeguard editorial freedom, and to strengthen credibility. I praise the efforts of Montenegrin journalists to develop self- regulation through their Code of Ethics and the future adoption of the Guidelines for Moderating Online Comments. This is a good example of how different models of self-regulation can coexist and work together based on shared principles. I believe that this document will be very useful to online media platforms, as well as to the wider media community,” said Désir.
Representative Désir hosted today a meeting in Vienna with the members of the Working Group on Self-Regulation composed of the Media Council for Self-Regulation, the Ombudspersons of the daily newspapers Dan and Vijesti and of the weekly newspaper Monitor. They presented the draft Guidelines for Moderating Online comments, which is a new important step in the implementation of the Montenegrin Journalists’ Code of Ethics. The Guidelines are a result of several months of co-operative work undertaken by the members of this Working Group. They include concrete steps and rules for news outlets and online media to deal with various kinds of comments on their websites. The Guidelines aim to tackle illegal and unethical content, threats, calls to violence and hate speech, while preserving the freedom of expression of online commentators.
“The OSCE Mission to Montenegro strongly supports joint efforts of members of the Technical Working Group for Self-regulation and will continue to do so,” said Ambassador Daviet.
Representative Désir welcomed the close co-operation between his Office, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, and the Technical Working Group on Self-Regulation, noting that the official presentation of the draft Guidelines discussed today is scheduled for September this year.