Skopje, 30 January 2019 – The Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services became part of the Network for Fight against Hate Speech in the Media, formed on the initiative of the Macedonian Media Ethics Council, with the support from the OSCE Mission in Skopje. The primary goal of the Network is to prevent the spread of hate speech in the public sphere, strengthen professional and ethical performance of the journalist profession and raise the awareness of the broader public.
As it has been doing to date, the Agency will continue to note all instances of hate speech in the media contents and sanction the same, in line with the competences granted to it with the latest amendments to the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services. At the same time, the Agency remains dedicated to the efforts to support and protect journalists and media representatives who are targets of hate speech.
Apart from the Agency, the list of signatories to the Declaration against Hate Speech in the Media and on the Internet also includes the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Information Society and Administration, the Minister of Communications, Accountability and Transparency, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Macedonia, the Academy of Judges and Public Prosecutors, the Journalists’ Association of Macedonia (ZNM), the Independent Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM), Institute of Communication Studies (IKS), Macedonia Media Institute (MIM), the Media Development Centre (CRM), the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia, the MARGINI Coalition, the Metamorphosis Foundation, the Social Development Research Institute (RESIS) and the Centre for Intercultural Dialogue (CID).
The Network for Fight against Hate Speech in the Media is open to new members that will express the will to become part of it by signing the Declaration.
Declaration against Hate Speech in the Media and on the Internet may be downloaded at this link