The show of Pink television star Jovana Jeremić was banned in Montenegro due to hate speech directed at certain national communities
The Council of the Agency for Audio-Visual Media Services (SAMU) in Montenegro made a decision on the temporary restriction of reception and rebroadcasting of broadcasts Jovan Jeremic “Novo jutro” and “Novo jutro – Morning with soul” which are broadcast as part of the program TV Pink for a period of six months – due to controversial speech aimed at several national and ethnic communities, reports antenam.net.
As stated in the announcement, the Council of the Agency determined that the disputed speech was not directed exclusively at one group, but at several national and ethnic communities, and it was most strongly directed at members of the Montenegrin people, but also at the Croatian minority and Croatian citizens, as well as Turkish citizens.
A commendable decision
The suspension of broadcasts was welcomed by the executive secretary of the Media Council for Self-Regulation, Ranko Vujović.
“I think it is a positive and welcome decision that after some time the Agency again bans certain media content that openly promotes hate speech and discrimination against certain nations,” Vujović said.
He believes that the Montenegrin public space is highly poisoned by the poisonous and nationalist rhetoric that accompanies hate speech, so it is welcome to remove it from television screens at least, if it cannot be removed from social networks and comments on online portals.
“So in that sense I see it as a positive step, I hope that the Agency will remain consistent in the implementation of this policy and that on every subsequent occasion, when it notices the frequent spread of hate speech, it will react as it does now with perhaps a longer-term suspension of certain television programs,” explained Vujović, as reported by antenam.net.
Elimination of anti-Montenegrin content from Belgrade
Asked if this is a way to eliminate hate speech and anti-Montenegro content coming from Belgrade, Vujović says that, when it comes to television, it is the only way:
“The agency is the only one that can do this, but it is limited to radio and television, and that is a problem. The problem is, on the other hand, that this kind of rhetoric and language is spreading through social networks, which have almost reached television in terms of the number of users, which is also worrying, it is worrying that it is spreading on social networks without control and that we still don’t have a mechanism to stop it on those platforms”.
He reminds that the preparation of the Law on Digital Services, which has just begun to be implemented at the level of the European Union, is underway.
“Montenegro has not yet started, it has not yet transported that law into its legislation. And it is a little more complicated story because it is about large platforms that are very influential and powerful and the European Union itself has a very big problem to reach large technological platforms coming from the United States”, explains Vujović
Montenegro will be able to implement that law in full force the moment it becomes a member of the European Union.
“I am a Montenegrin sister-in-law”, “a virus for which there is no cure”
“Neither the first nor the last time – we have already seen this. Every time there are upcoming elections in Montenegro, the ‘Morning with Soul’ program is always blacked out, because it is the most influential in the country. Montenegrins adore me. And since my influence has been further strengthened, Montenegrin men and women also appreciate me, they know that I have the greatest influence and that I bother them,” said Jeremić in response to accusations of hate speech.
“But that too will pass”, she continued, “considering that I am the future Montenegrin daughter-in-law. I don’t know what I would tell them, except that I am a virus for which there is no vaccine. There is no medicine in pharmacies. They cannot ban me as much as I can spring up again”.
So she said that she has enormous political influence in Montenegro, that “many tried to erase her, but they drew her anew”, and that this was her destiny.
Source: Vreme
