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SARAJEVO, June 19 (FENA) - The national coalition in Bosnia and Herzegovina whose main goal will be a healthy online environment for all citizens was presented in Sarajevo at a conference held at the headquarters of the United Nations (UN) as part of the UNESCO project Social Networks for Peace.
The Memorandum of the Coalition was also signed, the essence of which is the partnership and commitment of all member parties to achieve common goals.
The Coalition for Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation in BiH, as its full official name reads, will work on strengthening freedom of speech and a comparative reduction of hate speech in online content.
Head of the EU Delegation in BiH and the EU's Special Representative, Johann Sattler emphasized the importance of discussing checks since there are so many instances of endangering the principles of democracy on the internet every day, so users should be enabled not to be exposed to risks that can turn into even physical endangerment.
The media, regulatory bodies and UNESCO are becoming more important in this sense because the culture of dialogue needs to be nurtured, said Sattler, emphasizing that human rights and freedoms are key to the European Union. He noted that last week a conference was held in Sarajevo on the right to justice and in Banja Luka on freedom of media expression, which is important because there is a law on the horizon that could seriously threaten that principle in the Republika Srpska.
Sattler stated that it is important to have a broad coalition, which includes the participation of state institutions and to conduct a very open dialogue on these issues.
Stela Vasić, advisor at the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that the establishment of a national coalition for freedom of expression on the Internet means fulfilling one of the aspects in the realization of democratic principles. Hate speech and incitement to physical violence are unacceptable. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the law on e-content is being drafted, which will also address these issues, Vasić said.
Siniša Šešum, Head of the UNESCO Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, considers the establishment of the said coalition very important to reduce hate speech and edit the content on social networks so that freedom of speech come to the fore.
The Coalition for Freedom of Speech and Content Moderation in BiH is being established within the framework of the UNESCO project Social Networks for Peace to encourage the cooperation of civil society actors, institutions, the academic community and experts with social networks and other technology companies whose influence is great not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina but also in other countries.
This project is implemented with the support of the European Union.
(FENA) A. B.
