SEE Digital Rights Network – April 2023 Newsletter

2023-04-30

WHAT’S NEW

 Join the discussion on 27 April: Content moderation on networks and challenges set before media
In April, our network members: Media Institute of Montenegro and Mediacentar Sarajevo, are organizing a panel discussion about the content moderation on social network. The goal is to trigger a debate about the needs of media outlets regarding a more adequate comments moderation on social networks and prepare useful and much-needed guidelines for media outlets. The reason for this event lies in the fact that there are various challenges for media when it comes to their capacities to moderate online comments. Before the very event, participants will receive an article about comment removal mechanisms and related practices in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as guidelines for a more efficient moderation of comments on social networks. Please register for the event here and join us Thursday 27th at 11h . *please note that the event will be held in local language
A new report on digital rights violations
BIRN published its annual Digital Rights Monitoring Report for 2022 Distorting the Truth: Hate Speech and Disinformation Fuel Digital Rights Abuses in the Balkans explored digital rights violations in our region caused by ongoing political tensions, culture wars and Russian propaganda. The report shows the breaches of digital rights in: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Hungary. It collected 782 cases of violations where numerous actors such as human rights activists, journalists, the public, etc. become victims of online attacks.
Cyber Intimacy Tool
Two network members B.a.B.e and SHARE Foundation have developed “Cyber Intimacy”, a tool which provides advice and assistance in cases of intimate image abuse in local language and adapted for Serbia and Croatia. Together with 12 organizations from Serbia and Croatia very successful digital campaign was conducted.  
Article about revenge porn prompts Telegram to shut problematic groups
BIRN’s Andjela Milivojevic published an article titled ‘I Was Powerless’: Serbian Women Detail Devastating Impact of Revenge Porn. BIRN interviewed over 20 women from Serbia in order to hear their stories and experiences as victims of revenge porn and point at the problem of the lack of legal remedies in such cases. After the article was published, Telegram shut down 13 of 16 revenge porn groups discovered, however, the three remaining ones still operate while admins of the banned groups are inviting their former members to new groups, too. This case has brought many reactions while revenge porn is not a criminal offence in Serbia, therefore the adequate protection and resorting to legal actions are still not possible. 

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR MEMBERS 

NORTH MACEDONIA
ABOUT US
 
IGF MKD (Internet Governance Forum for the Republic of North Macedonia) is an open, inclusive and informal space for dialogue on Internet governance issues between all stakeholders in the Macedonian society (government, parliamentarians, private sector, civil society, the technical community, education,  media , end users, etc..) and  is aimed to  raise awareness and promote a better understanding of Internet governance among all stakeholders,  to build or strengthen the capacity of these stakeholders to actively participate in national Internet governance processes , to facilitate multistakeholder discussions, exchanges and collaboration on Internet-related issues that are of particular concern at national level , allowing all stakeholders to participate as equals and to contribute in creating linkages between the Internet governance realities in the region and the pan-European and the global Internet governance processes – global IGF.

Main objectives
Raise awareness, build capacity, and promote a better understanding of Internet governance related matters among the stakeholders of their respective communities; –
Facilitate multistakeholder discussion and exchanges of ideas and opinions.
Seek to foster multistakeholder collaboration among the stakeholders from their respective communities; and
Bring the perspectives of the respective communities to the global IGF agenda and reflect the perspectives of the global IGF into the NRIs events, where and when relevant and needed.
OUR CONTENT/PROJECT/ETC WE THINK IS RELEVANT FOR THE NETWORK
 
Till now we have organized 5 forums on national level in North Macedonia, links for each of the forums are below, also on our Facebook pages there are photos.
https://www.facebook.com/ events/890125411870618/
https://www.facebook.com/ events/140657690914921/
https://www.facebook.com/ events/442275826404373/
https://www.facebook.com/ events/1915090805461885/
https://makfax.com.mk/ makedonija/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4% D0%B5%D0%BE-%D1%84%D0%BE%D1% 80%D1%83%D0%BC-%D0%B7%D0%B0-% D1%83%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2% D1%83%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%9A%D0%B5- %D1%81%D0%BE-%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1% 82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1% 82/
https://denar.mk/162419/ ekonomija/prv-forum-za- upravuvanje-so-internet-vo- skopje
The whole point of those forums is the platform to bring all the stakeholders that are part of Internet Governance (Civil society, Government, Private sector, Academia, End-user …), and to discuss together in a multistakeholder bottom-up approach..
WHAT IS OUR SUPERPOWER?
 
Superpower to bring all the stakeholders on forum to discuss related issues together!