Hate speech and ethnic divisions in an anti-Albanian campaign on social media

An anti-Albanian campaign was launched on social media following a post on Facebook from a suspicious closed account. In the Facebook post, the author, without giving further details, said that at the cash register in the “Kipper” market in Gjorce Petrov, a saleswoman refused to tell the prices of the products in the Macedonian language, i.e. at first she wanted to say them in her “native language”.

The anti-Albanian campaign was then launched on Instagram and X in North Macedonia, calling for a boycott of the “Kipper” and “Kit Go” markets solely based on the fact that the owners are Albanians, writes Portalb.mk.

The campaign features extreme messages on ethnic, religious and national grounds, according to which the reason for boycotting these markets is because “the employee at KAM or Stokomak is called Svetle, or Gorde, which is far more sonorous than Shpressa or Valona”.  The so-called “discriminatory” behaviour of these markets is considered the fact that they do not sell alcohol and products containing pork, the consumption of which is against the Islamic religion.

The campaign and calls for a boycott have the obvious intention of dividing the population on ethnic grounds.

Not selling certain products is not discrimination

However, the Commission for Prevention and Protection from Discrimination tells Meta.mk that choosing not to sell certain products cannot constitute discrimination, because the merchants themselves decide which goods they will offer for sale.

“The offer and sale of goods is at the disposal of traders in accordance with their economic interests, business practices and market principles and in accordance with the regulations governing trade and consumer protection, hence the non-sale of certain goods could not constitute discrimination when trade is carried out within the framework of these principles and regulations,” says an employee of the expert service of the Commission for Prevention and Protection from Discrimination, who wished to remain anonymous.

He explains that in order to be considered discrimination, there must be an illegal or prohibited action by which a certain person or group of persons is placed in an unequal position with another person or group of persons, in terms of exercising their rights and freedoms, for the sake of some of their characteristic with which they are identified.

“The absence of certain goods from the offer of some merchants could not be correlated with the realization of rights and freedoms of persons or a group of persons,” he says.

Money and economic power have no colour, nation or religion

Economic expert Abil Baush believes that this campaign is a marketing trick and has a negative effect on the economy because it destroys the market.

“Money, economic power has no colour, nation and religion,” says Bausch.

He adds that the economy is based on a free market and says there were similar examples with the mobile operator “Albafon” in 2013. “This operator had a ‘We speak Albanian’ campaign and it failed very quickly because it only provided services to one primary group,” says Bausch.

Professor of marketing and international business at the University of Southeast Europe, Jusuf Zeqiri, says that such campaigns often appear as a result of unethical communication aimed at the consumer behaviour of another ethnic group, positioning elements of ethno-marketing in a negative connotation.

“By using provocative messages, they only aim to increase their followers. Thus, given the fragile environment, they very quickly attract the attention of their followers who, as consumers, see these influencers as reference points,” says Zeqiri.

The professor points out that one of the goals of those who spread campaigns based on ethnic divisions is to increase their popularity while undermining the credibility of the brands that are attacked. “Such campaigns negatively affect the economy by damaging brand reputation and reducing consumer confidence, especially in ethnically mixed markets,” says Zeqiri, adding that instead of promoting product value, such campaigns are perceived by consumers as discriminatory and can cause economic and social pressure on brands and consumers themselves.

“A brand associated with discriminatory messages can lose consumer trust and be perceived as supporting or tolerating such behaviour, making it difficult to regain trust and credibility,” adds the professor.

The president of the Chamber of Commerce of North-West Macedonia, Mendi Qira, says they regularly receive information about such campaigns, which, according to him, are increasingly present. He emphasises that this specific campaign is reflected negatively because in the markets that are targeted, there are Albanians and Macedonians employed. They also purchase products from both Macedonian and Albanian companies. However, his opinion is that these occurrences (campaigns) are exceptions and do not have a long-lasting effect.

“I consider these occurrences to be exceptions and they do not have a long-lasting effect, and the entities that play this dishonest game will realise that all companies are our companies, regardless of whether the owner is Albanian or Macedonian. They also pay tax to the state, contribute to employment, to the competition that gives quality and a real price in the market,” says Qira.

He called on the relevant institutions to react because this phenomenon is harmful not only to the economy but also to politics. “We are a multi-ethnic community and as such we need to protect ourselves in order to develop economically,” Qira says.

Hate only fuels more hate

According to the experts we spoke with, it is especially dangerous that such discriminatory campaigns encourage hate speech that is present in the comments of the posts that are part of the campaign.

Professor Zeqiri says that “discriminatory campaigns can prevent the formation of partnerships with other companies causing even more damage to the brand’s reputation in sensitive markets characterised by different affiliations and different beliefs”.

According to him, to avoid influential marketing campaigns that promote discrimination or bias, there must be clear ethical guidelines that promote diversity and inclusion of all communities.

“Influencers must recognise their influence over a broad audience, particularly in areas shaped by cultural and social factors, and be mindful of ethnic differences,” says Professor Zeqiri.

Practice shows that such negative campaigns normalise hostility, reinforce harmful stereotypes and encourage an “us versus them” mentality.

They often exploit fear, anger and resentment, which prompts people to express their frustrations through hate speech. By amplifying these messages, especially on social networks, the spread of hate speech is accelerated, creating an environment where divisive and aggressive rhetoric is validated. This creates conditions for further, even deeper polarisation and intolerance.

Author: Despina Kovachevska, Portalb.mk