The Council of Europe (CoE) media protection platform annual report warned of risks facing journalists covering the war in Ukraine and threats such as digital surveillance in some countries including Serbia.
The CoE Safety of Journalists Platform report identified as serious threats the digital surveillance of journalists and its risks to source confidentiality, the transnational repression of journalists – notably, from Russia and Belarus -, and the trend towards media capture by governments in some countries. It said that the risks that journalists faced covering the war in Ukraine remained the most pressing concern to the safety of journalists in Europe in 2024.
The report was drafted with CoE partner organizations.
It also warned of the rising threat of disinformation, including AI-generated content and state propaganda, used to manipulate public opinion and undermine independent journalism.
Serbia was among the countries with the highest number of alerts with 20 of those compared to 40 in Ukraine and 32 in Russia.
Platform will mark its 10th anniversary. Since its launching in 2015 until 31 December 2024, the Platform registered some 2,000 alerts.
The Platform’s annual report covers the 46 Council of Europe member states, as well as Russia, following its expulsion from the Council of Europe in 2022, and Belarus.
It listed several examples of problems facing journalists in Serbia which included online harassment – particularly targeting women journalists – as demonstrated by a deep fake disinformation campaign launched against journalist Stevan Dojčinović, online hate messages directed at N1 TV reporter Vanja Djuric and Nova S TV reporter Zeljko Veljkovic instigated by politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties.
The report noted the Belgrade Court of Appeals ruling to acquit 4 former members of the Serbian State Security Service (RDB) who had been convicted of the 1999 murder of newspaper publisher Slavko Curuvija.
According to the report, abuse of the Interpol system is another tactic used against journalists as shown by the case of Belarusian journalist Andrei Gnyot who was detained in Serbia for more than a year under a a red notice issued by the authorities in Minsk while his case was reviewed. The report also provided details of the attacks on Novi Sad journalist and university professor Dinko Gruhonjic.
Source: N1
