MEDIA MONITORING REPORT ON HATE SPEECH IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

Author: Anja Anđušić
Research methodology expert: Snježana Milivojević
Research methodology expert and editor: Stefan Janjić
Publishers: Media Diversity Institute and Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans

This report aims to provide a regional overview of the media monitoring of hate speech conducted by partner organisations in Western Balkan countries, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia1 . Reporting Diversity Network has been implementing media monitoring on a regional level since the beginning of 2021. However, this report is part of the second reporting period, covering data collected from May 1, 2022, until December 31, 2023. The first regional and national reports covered the period from January 2021 to April 2022.

This paper is not only a summary of results collected for each country, but it also goes a step further, providing a comparative analysis of all data collected in this period showing regional similarities and country-specific distinctions. Hateful and discriminatory discourses in the Western Balkan media are analysed by identifying the most targeted groups and the most common hateful and harmful narratives, as well as the main generators of those narratives.

The monitoring covers traditional media such as TV channels, radio, newspapers, and online
portals, as well as social media platforms. The highest number of hate speech cases were
targeting different ethnic groups, closely followed by reports targeting women and gender
minorities. As the previous report showed similar data, these groups remain the most common
targets of hateful and harmful discourses in the Western Balkans media landscape. Even though
cases of hate speech against sexual minorities and political opponents remained relatively
similar, a slight increase was found in political-based targeting.

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