Author: birnEU

From January 26 to May 26, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, and SHARE Foundation uncovered 163 cases of digital rights breaches in Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and North Macedonia, of which 68 were linked to manipulations in the digital environment, while 25 were related to publishing falsehoods and unverified information with the intention to damage the victims’ reputation.

According to these monitoring findings, more than half of the digital rights violations were related to propaganda, disinformation, falsehoods and the publication of unverified information, while citizens were the affected parties in almost 80 per cent of the cases.

In almost 25 per cent of all cases, the state itself or state officials were described as the perpetrator of certain guaranteed rights and freedoms violations.

During the reporting period, many governments imposed new rules and regulations to curb the spread of COVID-19, but the nature of this legislation clearly showed these practices were not tailored to achieve their objective, while having the adverse effect of damaging certain guaranteed rights. Of which, the most obvious examples being the endangering of media freedom in Serbia, Hungary and Romania amid the coronavirus pandemic.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, the newly established practice of mass arbitrary arrests and fines for disseminating false information on social media quickly became the most common measure for fighting the spread of fake news and panic. In order to stop the spread of the disease, citizen’s personal data were often violated while their digital rights and freedoms were abused on many occasions. Health and personal data breaches were noticed in 18 cases.

Cybercriminals have taken advantage of the current situation created by the COVID-19 epidemic, with 11 occurrences of computer fraud taking place during the reporting period, while the destruction and theft of data and programmes came about in three instances.

In comparison to the cases of online violations reported before the COVID-19 outbreak, our monitoring noted a significant rise in the number of the cases in which the attackers could not be determined; in 45 cases the perpetrators were unknown.

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As the collected data highlights, journalists, free-thinkers, migrants and refugees, women and quarantine citizens were particularly vulnerable groups, who were often exposed to insults, discrimination and threats.

The monitoring database is being updated on a regular basis, covering the state of digital rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. The regional database can be seen here. All cases of violations associated with the COVID19 outbreak can be found on our live updates page on BIRN Investigative Resource Desk (BIRD).

To read the full report “From Cures to Curses, Digital Rights During Pandemic”, click here.

Investigative stories published in Serbia from January 1 to December 31, 2019, and related to freedom of expression, the rule of law, transparency, abuse of power and fundamental rights, corruption and organised crime can be accepted.

The award fund in Serbia in 2020 (for achievements in 2019) is 10,000 euros. The first prize will be 5,000 euros, the second 3,000 euros, and the third 2,000 euros.

Individuals or groups of journalists are eligible to apply with work published in all journalistic formats (print, online, radio and TV) in official, minority or international languages.

Articles eligible for submission must have appeared in print, online, radio and TV media outlets in Serbia during the 2019 calendar year.

EU Investigative Journalism Awards in the Western Balkans and Turkey aim to celebrate and promote the outstanding achievements of investigative journalists as well as improve the visibility of quality journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey.

The awards are a continuation of the ongoing regional EU Investigative Journalism Award in the Western Balkans and Turkey and part of the ongoing project ‘Strengthening Quality News and Independent Journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey’, funded by the European Union.

The project partners involved all have extensive expertise in the field of media freedom and have been recognised locally and internationally as strong independent media organisations.

The jury for the EU Investigative Journalism Award comprises media experts, some of them from the project consortia. Others are drawn from the extensive network projects that consortium members have, such as editors and academics.

The awards are presented annually in all six Western Balkan countries and Turkey.

Read about the winners of the last year’s competition and their stories here.

For more information, please get in contact by email at [email protected]. All the details and guidelines for Serbia can be found below this article.

The deadline for applications is June 21, 2020.

To download all necessary documents in Serbian click here.

The Fellowship programme gives mid-career journalists the funding and editorial support to dig into complex issues of regional significance. Here are this year’s fellows, and the topics they intend to cover.

Klodiana Lala, a criminal justice reporter with decades of experience across print and TV outlets in Albania, will examine the evolution of the Albanian underworld.

Genka Shikerova and Boris Mitov, award-winning Bulgarian investigative journalists, will look at the emergence of the country’s so-called “border militias”.

Apostolis Fotiadis, a Greek journalist who has reported extensively on the migrant crisis, will examine the growing tensions around Greece’s migrant camps.

Elvira Krithari, a journalist for Greek media start-up MIIR plans to write about privatised healthcare providers in Greece.

Augustine Zenakos and Mariniki Alevizopoulou, Greek journalists with a track record of freelance initiatives and bylines for the international press, will report on marginalised communities in Greece’s border regions.

Bea Bako, a constitutional lawyer and journalist from Hungary, will report on tensions between the Hungarian government and the European Union.

Dariusz Kalan, an experienced freelance journalist from Poland, will report on the erosion of the rule of law under the current government.

Jakub Janiszewski, an experienced journalist and commentator focusing on politics, culture and gender issues, will examine Poland’s shifting attitudes to homosexuality.

Magdalena Chodowmik, a freelance text and video journalist, will tell the story of the winners and losers in Poland’s transition from communism.

Marija Vucic, a journalist with the Serbian investigative website, KRIK, will look at the spread of propaganda and fake news in the Balkans.

This year’s participants were competitively selected from about 80 applications spanning 14 countries of CEE region. An independent committee comprising seven senior European media figures evaluated proposals based on relevance, feasibility and originality, as well as the candidates’ professional qualifications and motivation.

The Fellows’ stories will be published by BIRN’s Balkan Insight and Reporting Democracy platforms and disseminated widely through our network of media partners in all local languages, as well as in English and German.

We look forward to starting work on these projects. We would also like to thank all journalists who applied for the Fellowship and to announce that the next call will be open in early 2021.