Montenegrin Deputy PM’s Push to Penalize ‘Fake News’ Condemned

Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic at a press conference. Photo: Government of Montenegro

On March 2, the leader of Black on White, the smallest bloc in the former ruling coalition, was proposed as prime minister-designate after he announced the formation of a new minority government.

"When the new government is formed, obligations regarding the reduction of the influence of false news and disinformation should be fulfilled. Our penal policy towards certain media needs to be strengthened a bit. We already banned broadcasting of some regional media for a certain amount of time. I do not think that some of our media are too far from them", Abazovic told a conference about fake news.

On January 8, the Agency for Electronic Media banned some Serbian television Happy shows from airing in Montenegro for six months.

The Agency said the decision was made because this television station show "Good Morning Serbia" contained content that incited hatred, intolerance and discrimination against people of Montenegrin nationality.

In February 2020, the Agency also limited the re-broadcasting of content from TV Happy and TV Pink M for three months, also for discrimination against Montenegrins.

Vuk Maras, from the Media Association of South-East Europe, MAJE, accused Abazovic of promoting media censorship.

"Instead of planning how to punish the media, Abazovic should think about how to improve the professionalism of the media and strengthen self-regulatory mechanisms. Freedom of the media is one of the pillars of democracy and any punishment is out of the question," Maras told news agency MINA..

Political analyst Fedja Pavlovic also criticized moves to put more pressure on media.

"The new government will have a ...