Serbia
Monthly Highlights August: Ethnic discrimination, religious hate and hatred towards politicians and journalists
During the month of August, the RDN monitoring team detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse fuelled by religious hate, ethical tensions and hatred towards politicians and journalists. Religious hate in Bosnia and Herzegovina Sanin Musa, leader of the “Faith. People. State.” movement and president of the Bosnian People’s Party, announced the arrival of …
Words that kill: Why “crime of passion” must disappear
“Crime of passion” sounds almost romantic. In reality, it means femicide. The phrase is not a legal term, but it regularly appears in tabloid headlines when reporting on men killing their wives or girlfriends. It usually suggests that the crime was unplanned, committed under “emotional distress,” which is a framing that shifts focus away from …
Trolls of the Month: TV Informer and editor Dragan J. Vučićević
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 Balkan region. In Serbia, August was marked by violent protests. Supporters of …
30 years since the Srebrenica genocide: Genocide denial persists in regional media
8372 Bosniak men and boys were killed by the Army of the Republika Srpska on July 11, 1995, in what is widely recognised as the largest massacre in Europe since the Second World War. This year marked three decades since the genocide. Here is how the media in the region reported before, during, and after …
Monthly Highlights July: Ethnic discrimination, sensationalism, genocide relativisation and denial and the restriction on personal freedom
During the month of July, the RDN monitoring team detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse fuelled by genocide denial and relativisation alongside ethnic discrimination, sensationalism and the imposition of restrictions on personal freedom. Ethnic Discrimination in Serbia and Kosovo In Serbia, on the morning of July 29th, masked individuals—later revealed to be a …
Monthly Highlights June: Ethnic discrimination, sexism, online harassment alongside hatred towards journalists and genocide denial
During the month of June, the RDN monitoring team detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse fuelled by sexism and ethnic discrimination alongside online harassment and cases of genocide denial and hatred towards journalists. Ethnic discrimination fuelled by the media in North Macedonia In North Macedonia, a headline was published reading “ПРИТИСНАЛ НА ГАС, …
Manosphere in the Balkans: It’s a real thing
Manosphere. Incels. The 80/20 rule. These terms gained broader attention after Netflix aired Adolescence, a show that follows a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a girl at his school. The famous series sparked conversations among women about toxic masculinity and “alfa male” behaviour. But did men have the same discussions? Let’s hope so. …
When Grief Becomes Political: How Tragedy is Weaponized Against a Free Press and Youth in North Macedonia and Serbia
Two recent tragedies—one in North Macedonia and one in Serbia—have sparked waves of student-led protests in Skopje and Belgrade, drawing attention to deep-seated political and institutional failures in both countries. In March, a horrific fire tore through the makeshift Pulse nightclub in Kočani, North Macedonia, killing 61 people and injuring hundreds more. Meanwhile, in Novi …
Monthly Highlights March: sexism and misogyny, attacks on journalists, the spread of disinformation, bias and death threats
During March, the RDN monitoring team detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse fuelled by sexism and misogyny alongside the spread of disinformation, bias and death threats coupled with attacks on journalists. Sexism and misogyny in Albania and Montenegro In Albania, during a controversial interview with Revista Bordo, author Albi Lushi claimed that women …