Sarajevo/Bihać, 30.12.2024 – The BH Journalists Steering Committee calls on the Government and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Una-Sana Canton (USK) to include the journalistic and media community of that canton in the Working Group for the development of a new Law on Information, which the cantonal authorities intend to adopt in order to normatively regulate the media space of USK, as well as to limit hate speech, fake news and other harmful content that is spread through new media and social networks.
According to information from BH Novinari, the aim of adopting this law is to innovate the Law on Information from 1998, with a focus on the expansion of internet media, and the need to prevent the spread of hateful content via the internet. The new legal solutions will oblige media to self-regulate and remove certain content from portals, and give the competent Ministry the authority to, through its Inspectorate, fine media for misdemeanors if they do not remove problematic content within the prescribed period. The law plans to give operators and local internet providers the ability to ban certain sites and individuals if the Ministry determines that they have published false news that is contrary to the public interest or may endanger security.
BH Journalists remind that the spread of hate speech and fake news, as well as the moderation of hateful content on the Internet, which the USC authorities want to regulate by law, have not been successfully resolved anywhere in the world, since it is not easy to find legal mechanisms and a balance between freedom of expression and its legitimate restriction in the interest of the public. Also, some of the issues that the new USC Law seeks to regulate are already regulated through the competences of the regulatory and self-regulatory body in BiH, or need to be legally defined through the activities of the state Parliament, or the authorities at the state level. From the perspective of BH Journalists, excessive (self)regulation and legal regulation are not always efficient, and can cause damage to media freedoms, perhaps even greater than those caused by the lack of legislation.
BH Journalists point out that the amended European Union Digital Services Act (DSA) came into force at the beginning of 2024, which applies to all online platforms and the prevention of the spread of potentially harmful content. Since BiH as a state should soon begin negotiations on all chapters, including Chapter 10 “Media and Information Society”, we believe that activities related to the new law in the Una-Sana Canton should be harmonized with the EU DSA law, but also synchronized with the activities of BiH state authorities in the pre-accession negotiations.
Due to all of the above, the Board of Directors of BH Journalists requests the Government and the competent Ministry of the Canton of Una-Sana to conduct the process of preparing the new Law on Information in a transparent and inclusive manner, and in accordance with the provisions of the EU Act on Digital Services. Also, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports must include representatives of the media and journalistic community of this canton in the work of the Working Group for the preparation of new legal solutions in the field of information, which will, when and if adopted, most strongly reflect on the work and future activities of the media and journalists in the Una-Sana Canton.
BH Journalists Steering Committee
