BIRN participated in the POINT 13 conference held on May 29-30, 2025, in Sarajevo, which brought together key participants from civil society, journalism, technology and activism, focusing on digital security and infrastructure for journalists, activists and civil society organisations in the Western Balkans.
On the first day, Azra Milić, Digital Rights Programme Coordinator at BIRN Hub, moderated the panel session “Digital Security and Infrastructure for Activists, Media and CSOs in the Western Balkans”. The discussion focused on the increasing challenges in protecting freedom of speech, privacy and security in the digital environment. The panelists were Nikola Ristić, activist and co-founder of OG Sviće, Andrijana Ristić, a researcher from the Share Foundation, and Michael J Oghia from the Journalism Cloud Alliance. Two of the speakers were directly targeted in smear campaigns by the Serbian tabloid Informer due to their participation in the conference.
Nikola Ristić, in addition to being targeted because of his participation at the conference, had previously been a victim of digital surveillance, including the hacking of his phone by the Serbian Intelligence Agency (BIA) and the release of footage from security cameras at Belgrade airport to the tabloids. He noted the importance of protecting privacy and data, highlighting basic measures like strong passwords and selecting the right devices.
“You need to understand the infrastructure you use. For instance, those little keys you get at POINT Conferences to secure your data and passwords – they’re simple, but important. And yes, it matters who manufactures your phone,” he said.
In the discussion about the challenges faced by civil society organisations, it was pointed out that attacks on individuals often lead to broader attacks on the organisations themselves. Andrijana Ristić, who was also target of smear campaign last week, noted that while there is a growing focus on digital security, more attention needs to be paid to data privacy, which is often overlooked.
“Right now, it feels like the focus is overwhelmingly on security — but we need to think more about protecting our privacy too,” she warned.
Another key issue raised was the importance of secure cloud services for journalists, especially those working on investigative reporting and data analysis. Michael J Oghia stressed the significance of these tools, speaking about a project launched last year at the International Journalism Conference in Perugia. The project aims to bring together members and partners from various sectors with the goal of making cloud services more secure, accessible, and sustainable, which would help reduce costs.
The POINT 13 conference served as an important platform for exchanging experiences and solutions. Speakers agreed that progress in digital security and privacy protection is essential, as well as building the infrastructure that enables secure work in the digital environment, free from the fear of attacks, censorship, or violence.