TROLL OF THE MONTH: Portal Kosovo Online

The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkans region. January Troll of the month is portal Kosovo Online for …

MONTHLY MONITORING HIGHLIGHT: Homophobia and ethnic discrimination throughout December

Throughout the month of December, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful discourse. There has been a rise in homophobia and ethnic discrimination in the region. Homophobia in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Kosovo   The release of the animated children’s movie, Strange World by Disney has sparked much controversy within the …

TROLL OF THE MONTH: Albin Kurti and Vjosa Osmani

The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkans region. This month another femicide happened in Kosovo, the second one …

THE INVISIBLE WOMEN

Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian women are among the most vulnerable groups in our society and, historically, they have been treated as citizens of the lowest order. They face contempt, hostility and social and institutional discrimination on a daily basis. This research carried out by QIKA scrutinizes the inter-sectoral nature of challenges which women of these …

Monthly Monitoring Highlight: Discrimination and hate in the Western Balkans media throughout November  

Throughout the month of November, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month we have identified religious discrimination, sexism, anti-migrant rhetoric, and homophobia in the region.   Religious discrimination in Montenegro   The former president of the Municipal Assembly of Petnjica, Adnan Muhović, has made derogatory comments in reference to …

HISTORY OVER FOOTBALL: Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia rise during the 2022 FIFA World Cup

The focus and widespread conversations around the match between Serbia and Switzerland on Friday 2 December at the World Cup, was the ethnic hate and nationalistic incidents between Serbs and Albanians both on the field, between players and team members, and by  fans in the audience. Before the game began, fans  arrived at the stands …

STRUGGLING FOR THE TRUTH IN THE BALKANS

The general lack of balanced discussion in the media in the Balkans deprives the public of accurate information and damages professional journalism. Civil society actors are using social networks to send different messages and fight disinformation, but their reach is limited and often includes people who are already aware of the issues. Yet, these voices are important in the struggle for truthful information and a just society.  

DISINFIRMATION EVERYWHERE

FROM UKRAINE AND THE NORTH OF KOSOVO TO INFLATION AND VISA LIBERALIZATION It’s become clear throughout 2022 that malinformation and disinformation are not a declining phenomena. Information disorder is spreading and changing its shape by adopting new digital tools, applications and platforms. Disinformation and malinformation about Covid-19 prevailed in 2020 and 2021. This year, the …

Monthly monitoring highlight: Sexism and homophoia across the Balkans

Throughout the month of October, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month there has been a rise in sexism, misogyny and homophobia, alongside hate speech against political opponents.  Sexism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia and Albania  In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a private user on Facebook spread extremely …