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Balkan Mobile Users Roam Freely – Unless They’re in Kosovo

Posted on June 28, 2023June 29, 2023 by BIRD

During the second Western Balkans Digital Summit in the Serbian capital Belgrade in 2019, six Balkan nations committed themselves to providing their citizens with a consistent mobile internet experience throughout the region.

This commitment pledged equivalency in cost, quality and speed of mobile internet services with domestic services, with a clear stipulation of no surcharges. The ultimate goal was to render mobile data usage within the region effectively free of extra cost – essentially mirroring domestic retail rates for calls, messages, and data.

The Regional Roaming Agreement – a so-called ‘roam-like-at-home’ scheme like the one that operates within the European Union – is considered to be a significant achievement of the Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans, the EU-backed digital transformation project for the region, because it promotes regional cooperation and alignment with the EU’s regulatory framework on roaming.

But despite these progressive intentions, two years into this agreement, many Western Balkan consumers continue to face extra charges when using mobile data in other countries in the region.

While the initiative seems good for most of the Western Balkans, Kosovo’s mobile users cannot use their cellphones throughout Kosovo itself – although they can use them roaming in other Western Balkans countries.

Kosovo has a total of three telecommunications companies, but none of them can function properly throughout the country’s territory due to the ongoing conflict with Serbia.

Western Balkan Ministers for Telecommunications signing the agreement in Belgrade to gradually remove all roaming costs in the region. Photo: Information Society Ministry of North Macedonia.

Coverage limited in northern Kosovo

All telecoms operators from Serbia told BIRN that the implementation of the roam-like-at-home agreement functions in Kosovo similarly to the way it does in other countries.

Usage rises after roaming deal begins

The Western Balkans Roaming Report by the Regional Cooperation Council, RCC analysed international roaming services in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia in 2021. It revealed that roaming users in the Western Balkans made outgoing calls lasting about eight times longer within the Western Balkans region compared to when they were the European Economic Area, EEA. Western Balkans users also consumed approximately seven times more data services within the region than while roaming within the EEA.

The report highlighted the countries with the highest inbound and outbound roaming usage and the differences in wholesale revenues and costs between EEA and Western Balkans operators. While EEA operators had higher average wholesale revenues per unit, the gap was narrower for SMS and data services due to high international mobile termination rates.

The implementation of the roam-like-at-home initiative on July 1, 2021 resulted in a significant increase in average consumption per Western Balkans user while roaming, highlighting the price sensitivity of Western Balkans roamers.

Voice call duration and data consumption per user experienced substantial growth in the second half of 2021, except for Montenegro. Increases ranged from 45 per cent in Kosovo to 237 per cent in Serbia for call duration, and from 62 per cent in Albania to 459 per cent in Serbia for data consumption.

Western Balkans users utilised approximately eight times more outgoing call minutes while roaming within the Western Balkans region compared to the EEA. This ratio increased elevenfold in the fourth quarter. Data consumption per user while roaming in the region was about seven times higher than that of EEA users.

Montenegro had the highest usage of roaming services among the Western Balkans countries.

Western Balkans users generated 3.4 million GB of data traffic while roaming in the Western Balkans region in 2021, a 45 per cent increase compared to the previous year and more than double the volumes of 2019. Data roaming consumption in the EEA reached 427,000 GB in 2021, 2.6 times higher than in 2020 and 40 per cent higher than in 2019.

However, Ipko Communications, a major mobile provider in Kosovo, only has an agreement with the A1 mobile provider in Serbia, while Telekom Kosovo, operating as Vala, has agreements with all operators in the Western Balkans except for Serbia, where it only has an agreement with Yettel. This means that when they are in Serbia, Vala or Ipko users can use their phone only when connected to the network of the one company with which Vala or Ipko have a contract.

Three companies operate in Kosovo — IPKO Communications, Vala (Telekom Kosovo), and MTS DOO, an affiliate of Telekom Srbija that operates in the northern part of Kosovo where the majority of the population are Serbs.

Kosovo’s Regulatory Authority of Electronic and Postal Communications, ARKEP, told BIRN that MTS DOO “has a temporary and limited authorisation to extend the infrastructure issued by ARKEP, based on the Telecommunications Agreement, and offers services only in certain areas where the Serbian community lives, and mainly in the north of the country”.

The Telecommunications Agreement referred to by ARKEP was first signed by Kosovo and Serbia in Brussels in 2013 as part of their EU-mediated dialogue to normalise relations, followed by an action plan on telecommunications that was signed in 2015.

MTS however “has no right to expand/extend the mobile phone network”, ARKEP told BIRN.

Users of Kosovo’s telecommunications operators can use their phones in other Balkan countries in accordance with the roam-like-at-home agreement, in the same way that Serbian users can in Kosovo.

Northern Kosovo is an exception, however. Mobile operators in Kosovo, excluding MTS DOO, have limited coverage in the northern, Serb-majority municipalities, resulting in restricted or completely disabled telecommunications services.

One man from Belgrade, Vuk V., who didn’t want his full name to be made public, said he spent several days in Kosovo last month, travelling from the north to Prizren and Pristina.

“At no point was it possible to use Serbian MTS [the Serbian provider rather than the service for north Kosovo provided by MTS DOO], while Kosovo networks could be used but with a tariff that was not explained anywhere. In some parts of Kosovo, there was no signal for any of the networks,” he said.

MTS DOO did not respond to BIRN’s questions.

Kosovo citizens often face difficulties in the four Serb-majority municipalities in the north of the country due to the limited coverage offered there by Kosovo telecom companies Vala and Ipko. It is often not possible to connect to the MTS DOO network for those who have a mobile phone number from either Vala and Ipko. Because the area is within Kosovo, roaming does not function either.

When a BIRN reporter visited the north of Kosovo, she had to purchase an MTS DOO simcard. However, whenever there are sudden escalations of tensions in the north of Kosovo, it becomes difficult to buy MTS DOO simcards or internet packages.

Vala told BIRN that in the northern municipalities of Mitrovica e Veriut, Zvecan, Leposaviq/Leposavic and Zubin Potok, the Vala (Kosovo Telecom) mobile service does not work due to limited network coverage in these areas.

Vala said that the following coverage is available in northern Kosovo:

Zubin Potok: Most parts of the city, Lake Ujmani and the road to the border crossing point in Bernjak have 3G coverage. The border point in Bernjak has 4G coverage. Internet and IPTV service are available at specific institutions in Bernjak, such as Kosovo Customs, the Post Office and Raiffeisen Bank.
Leposaviq/Leposavic: The border point in Jarinje, a section of the Jarinje- Leposaviq/Leposavic road, and a section of the Mitrovica- Leposaviq/Leposavic road have 3G coverage. However, the town of Leposaviq/Leposavic itself does not have reliable 3G coverage, and 4G technology has not been implemented yet. Cable internet is not available in the municipality.
Zvecan: Zvecan has partial coverage from base stations in Mitrovica, but the city itself does not have satisfactory coverage. There is no cable internet coverage in Zvecan.
Mitrovica: The municipality is mostly covered by new technologies from base stations in South Mitrovica. However, one base station within the municipality only operates with 2G technology. There is partial cable network coverage and fixed services in certain areas and institutions, such as the neighbourhood of Boshnjakeve.

As Vala explained, Kosovo Telecom has an agreement with Serbian companies for international roaming, but this agreement only allows roaming services within Serbia, not within Kosovo.

“Therefore, [users of] Vala numbers can only use mobile phone services via roaming in the territory of Serbia, where their roaming partner has network coverage,” the company said.

ARKEP told BIRN that “mobile operators Kosovo Telecom (Vala) and IPKO have the authorisation from ARKEP to extend the infrastructure and provide services throughout the territory of the Republic of Kosovo, including the northern municipalities”.

In February 2023, ARKEP also gave additional capacities – 800MHz and 3.5GHz frequency bands – to Kosovo Telekom and IPKO.

Vala said that investments are being made by Kosovo Telecom to modernise its network and expand coverage to areas including the four Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo.

ARKEP said that during the second part of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, “there has been an effort and a joint plan of operators with support from the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, for investments in the northern part, for which several masts and base stations for providing services have been established”.

“Also when it comes to the extension of the mobile phone infrastructure in the northern part of the country, operators also need additional security for their infrastructure, since at various times their telecommunications infrastructure has been deliberately damaged by unscrupulous persons,” ARKEP said.

In 2010, some of IPKO’s infrastructure in the north of Kosovo was damaged. However, IPKO did not respond to BIRN’s questions regarding the current situation in the northern municipalities by the time of publication.

Illustration: Unsplash.com/Jackson David.

When ‘free’ doesn’t mean free

While the roam-like-at-home initiative says that the same package rates should apply when used at home or when when travelling to other Western Balkan countries, data usage is limited to amounts significantly lower than in the country of the mobile user’s origin.

The Regional Roaming Agreement’s principles

Article 1 of the Agreement on the Reduction of Roaming Charges in Public Mobile Communication Networks in the Western Balkans region stipulates that the signatories commit to bringing the maximum retail price of roaming charges in line with the ‘roam-like-at-home’ principle, similar to the rules applicable in the European Union, by July 1, 2021.

The agreement’s introductory provisions state that the terminology used in legislation in the six countries should align with the definitions provided in relevant EU regulations on roaming. These include definitions of fair use policy.

According to Article 4 of the agreement, the regulatory bodies for electronic communications in the Western Balkans are responsible for implementing the agreement. Article 6 states that the signatory countries must make necessary amendments to their electronic communications laws and regulations to achieve the objectives outlined in the agreement, including aligning consumer protection policies with EU standards.

During the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tirana last December, telecommunications operators from both the EU and the Western Balkans signed a Declaration on Roaming. This declaration aims to reduce roaming prices between the EU and the Western Balkans and is scheduled to come into effect on October 1, 2023.

The roam-like-at-home initiative implemented in the Western Balkans from July 1, 2021, was envisaged as a pathway to making the region free of roaming charges. This step was part of a grander scheme to prepare the region for a similar arrangement with EU member countries in autumn 2023.

The roam-like-at-home initiative limits a roaming call’s cost to a maximum of 19 euro cents per minute, the cost of an SMS to six euro cents, and data transmission to 18 euro cents (all prices excluding VAT). But these rules exist more on paper than in practice.

BIRN sought answers from national regulatory authorities and mobile operators in each Western Balkan country to decipher the reasons behind the persistent additional charges still plaguing many users while using roaming within the region.

Calls and SMS messages are treated the same when roaming as they are at home, and users can fully utilise the allocated amount within their tariff package, the regulatory authorities said. Once the allocated amount is exhausted, calls and text messages are charged according to their telecommunications operator’s domestic price list.

However, when it comes to data transmission when roaming within the Western Balkans region, a different approach is implemented. Depending on their tariff package, users are granted a specific quota for data transmission within the region.

For example, if a user is in any of the Western Balkan countries and makes a call to a number in Montenegro, regardless of which Montenegrin mobile provider the number belongs to, the minutes used are deducted from the package allocated for calls to other networks. If those minutes are used up, the call is charged according to the price list for calls to other networks in Montenegro provided by its mobile operator. The same principle applies to SMS messages to numbers in Montenegro.

When it comes to enjoying the benefits of ‘roam-like-at-home’ in Western Balkan countries, whichever foreign network is chosen when roaming, the same benefits apply because all operators comply with the Regional Roaming Agreement.

Illustration: Unsplash.com

The rules of the roam-like-at-home initiative also include a policy of appropriate use. Users should be aware of limitations regarding data transmission services in regional roaming for specific domestic tariff packages, where there is a specified amount of data that users can use in regional roaming. If this limit is exceeded, an additional roaming fee is incurred.

This mechanism aims to prevent misuse and inappropriate use of data transmission, the regulatory authorities said. The quota is defined based on the guidelines outlined in the Rulebook on the Application of the Appropriate Use Policy which was adopted as part of the Regional Roaming Agreement.

For example, using roaming in another Western Balkans for at least four months, rather than starting to use the country’s own mobile providers, would be seen as inappropriate use.

In such cases, the mobile operator warns the user and provides a 15-day deadline to change their usage pattern. After this period, the operator can start charging an additional roaming fee based on the domestic retail price of mobile communication network services.

This fee is discontinued as soon as the user’s consumption no longer indicates any risk of misuse or inappropriate use of regional roaming services, based on indicators determined under the Regional Roaming Agreement by the Regulation on the Implementation of the Policy of Appropriate Use.

The limits to roaming

The Montenegrin Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services said the Regional Roaming Agreement’s Fair Usage Policy should allow roaming service providers to prevent malicious or excessive use of roaming services, ensuring that roaming is used solely for periodic travel purposes.

The Regional Roaming Agreement sets out pre-defined and binding rules for consumption, tariffing, terms and conditions and traffic volumes in the Western Balkans. All operators in the region must adjust their prices and terms for using roaming services in Western Balkan countries based on the prescribed prices and conditions outlined by the regulations adopted under the agreement.

Bosnian mobile operator HT Eronet told BIRN that there are significant costs associated with roaming services, and the Bosnian regulator has defined the charging and cost structure that it can implement.

If a user’s domestic tariff includes a specific amount of minutes, text messages or data traffic to other mobile networks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, those resources will be used up in the same way on roaming as at home. In all six countries, certain tariffs or options provide users with a defined quantity of data traffic for roaming in Western Balkan countries without additional roaming fees.

Montenegrin mobile operator One Montenegro said that the national electronic communications service regulators in the countries signed up to the roam-like-at-home agreement are responsible for implementing and monitoring the agreement’s enforcement.

The regulations of the Regional Roaming Agreement establish maximum prices and define formulas that operators must use when creating service packages which can be used in Western Balkan countries.

The Serbian regulator, the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services, RATEL, said that the limit on the number of days during which customers can use roam-like-at-home services aligns with the fair usage policies of operators to prevent abusive or abnormal use of roaming services.

That means mobile operators offer roaming services with packages at domestic prices only for occasional travels to other Western Balkan countries.

The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, the umbrella body representing telecommunications regulators in EU states, said it is “regularly collecting data regarding the roaming market in [the Western Balkans] and publishing a monitoring report which is an analysis of the data received”.

It added that it has not received any complaints.

In North Macedonia, Crime of Online Stalking Still Goes Unpunished

Posted on June 27, 2023December 29, 2024 by BIRD

In the past few years, online sexual violence has exploded in the Balkans. In North Macedonia, the most scandalous case was the case of “Public Room”, an online chat group on the encrypted application Telegram with over 7,000 members, where explicit photos, social media profiles, personal data and child pornography were shared without consent.

The group was shut down in 2020 but no one was formally punished. A year later, another such group appeared with the same name and purpose and on the same application, again with thousands of male members.

Appalled by the violence, hundreds expressed their revulsion and support for the victims through multiple protests.

The sheer size and nature of “Public Room” sparked huge reactions from the public. “Because the case had to do with child pornography and things that we want to turn a blind eye to, there was a bigger turnout for these topics,” Kalia Dimitrova, editor-in-chief of the Macedonian feminist platform Meduza, told BIRN.

In March 2022, the creator and administrator of the Telegram group were sentenced to four years in prison for the production and distribution of child pornography.

One 22-year-old member of “Public Room” was also indicted for the same crime, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office says that some other activities in the group are being investigated.

The Prosecutor’s office said it requested data from Telegram about the identities of users of “Public Room” but has not yet received an answer. Without this, it says, the Public Prosecutor cannot act.

Several protests against the online violence have been organised in Skopje. “Inaction is Complicity” the banner reads. Photo by BIRN

Laws changed but action lags behind

As a result of public pressure over “Public Room”, changes to the criminal code were passed that introduced the new crime of “stalking”.

This crime anticipates a fine or imprisonment of up to three years for persons who follow or attempt to make unwanted contact with another person without authorization in the physical, but also in the digital, space.

This crime came into force in February this year and the Ministry of the Interior says that ten victims of the crime of “stalking” have been registered so far; in two of the ten cases, the crime was committed over the Internet. The Public Prosecutor’s Office says that only one charge has been filed for this crime.

A potential alleviating circumstance after “Public Room” is that victims no longer have to physically go to the police station to report the violence. This can now also be done online through the official email cybercrime@moi.gov.mk or on the online platform Red Button on the website of the Ministry of the Interior.

Although these changes have been welcomed, many believe that North Macedonia’s institutions remain sexist towards the victims. Dimitrova particularly emphasizes the importance of the police, because that is “the first point of the victims’ demand for justice and every second policeman is sexist or maybe a perpetrator of violence himself”.

Even when faced with an inadequate institutional response, activists continue to urge victims to report violence. But Dimitrova hesitates to back this advice, suggesting that there is a high probability that the victim will be judged and doubly victimized when seeking justice.

“We hope that micro-steps are taken and some institutional memory is created on how to deal with these cases in future. But it is sad that this ends up happening on the backs of the victims,” Dimitrova said.

Katerina Koteska, a lawyer from Bitola, also believes that victims often face condemnation, inappropriate questions and double victimization from institutions when seeking help. At the same time, Koteska says many obstacles also come in the form of prejudice by society at large.

Koteska represented a victim from the so called Bitola “Public Room” whose intimate screenshots from a video call were shared in a Facebook group. The victim was well known in the town and this was reflected in the court process itself. Hoping for greater understanding, Koteska wanted to hire a woman as the professional responsible for assessing the psychological state of the victim.

“However, she rejected my request on the grounds that she did not want to get involved in this case, as she would be gossiped about, and it would be something that would be heard around town. In other words, I think she didn’t want to get involved in such a scandal,” explained Koteska.

Natasha Boshkova, a lawyer from the Skopje-based human rights umbrella organisation called “Coalition Margins” expected a more responsible attitude from the institutions after working on a case related to “Public Room”, which was rejected by the Prosecutor’s Office after almost three years due to lack of evidence.

“I believe that this approach is harmful and contrary to the obligation of institutions to act with due care, i.e. to promptly and efficiently take everything within their jurisdiction to find the perpetrator, collect evidence and punish him, and to give the victims compensation for the damage they suffered,” Boškova told BIRN.

Kalia Dimitrova. Photo by Zarko Culic

Greater public awareness, but problem far from solved

Because of “Public Room”, online sexual harassment and violence have become more present in public discourse and awareness of this problem has increased among the public and institutions and, according to Dimitrova, among the victims themselves.

“Something very important happened, and that is the victims recognizing themselves as victims. [“Public Room”] gave more women and girls the opportunity, especially younger ones, to realize that some of the things that happen to them were normalized, and that, in fact, they are not normal and should not be.”

However, mere recognition of violence by the victims is not enough to eradicate the phenomenon. It is also important to change the behaviour of perpetrators, which is why experts believe that preventive measures and education of young people are needed.

Koteska says young people should know what intimate communication between two people is, and be aware that resending explicit photos is not only a breach of trust but also a crime punishable by law.

Dimitrova says North Macedonia’s institutions still do not realize that online and physical identities are practically equal, and still inadequately treat cases of online violence.

“As younger generations, we should insist in our efforts that there is no border between the real world and the digital world,” she said.

For Dimitrova, the problem lies not only in institutions but also in social values, as well the fact that aggression is often present in homes and at school. That is why violence is often perpetuated in all relationships – romantic, friendships and family – both during one’s youth but also later in life.

“When we talk about violence, it is externalized from reality and we approach those problems in a demagogic way. As a society, we need to face the fact that violence is a part of our lives, without exception, and we need to bring it down to that level,” Dimitrova concluded.

Serbian School Shooting Has Tested Limits of Public’s ‘Right to Know’

Posted on June 26, 2023December 29, 2024 by BIRD

The mass shooting at the Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School in Belgrade on May 3, in which ten pupils and one employee were killed, is one of the most tragic events in Serbia’s recent history.

While the parents of the children were waiting minute by minute for information about the fates of their own children and other children, the media began to publish unconfirmed information about the number of victims of the massacre.

The majority of the media clearly estimated that the public’s right to know the about the number of dead and injured, even unofficial and unverified, outweighed the interests of families and minors in protecting their rights to private and family life.

At the official press conference, several hours after the massacre, the Chief of the Belgrade Police presented the details of the pre-investigation procedure.

One of the first pieces of information from the judicial authorities was that no criminal charges could be brought against the perpetrator due to his young age.

To inform the public about the crime, the Chief of Belgrade Police took the initiative to disclose crucial details that would typically be presented in the criminal charge to the prosecutor if a criminal proceeding was able to take place.

He presented the public with a list of potential and planned victims of the minor perpetrator.

And while the public might feel that the media’s unofficial and inaccurate information represented a disturbance of the right to family life, in regards to the presentation of official information by the competent authorities, the red light of concern began to flicker, resonating within the hearts of the parents whose children attended Vladislav Ribnikar Primary School.

By publishing a list of potential and planned victims, those “potential targets” became actual targets of the media and internet bullies, which brought the already distraught children additional fear and pain.

And that brings us to the main question: Did the public have the right to know who the potential victims were?

Rights of minors should prevail over ‘right to know’

Ambulance cars stand ready at the site as police officers block a street near the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school in Belgrade, Serbia, May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANDREJ CUKIC

The right to privacy and protection of minors are two main rights that collide with the right of the public to know, given that in this crime, both the perpetrator and the victims were minors.

Therefore, the answers to all questions should be sought in the regulations that protect the rights of minors.

Minors enjoy special protection: whether we speak about the perpetrator of a crime (whose data protection also protects the data of the victims in this case) or about the victims. Although before a criminal court in Serbia, the victims are deprived of most of their rights and are not the centre of the proceedings, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child mandates that child victims must be given special status, because any form of violence against children is deemed a violation of their right to life, survival, and development.

Hence, the Constitution of Serbia is the first line of protection for minors. Namely, although criminal proceedings are public (as a guarantor of the right to a fair trial), it is stipulated that the public can be excluded from all the proceedings conducted before the court or from part of the proceedings in order to protect the interests of minors or the privacy of the participants in the proceedings.

The interest of minors is an explicit reason for excluding the public from hearings in court by Serbian Criminal Procedure Code. A special Law on juvenile offenders and the criminal protection of minors upholds the mentioned constitutional right through detailed provisions and a specific institutional base.

Although this regulation applies to minors – older than 14 years – not specifically to children, logic dictates that children enjoy even more protection. Police powers towards minors are regulated by special police regulation.

On the other hand, the Law on Police stipulates the public nature of police work. The Ministry of Interior should regularly and fully inform the public about its work. But there are exceptions. The ministry cannot violate the regulation on data confidentiality and the dignity of citizens, or threaten the right to personal freedom and security.

The Law on public information and media regulates public information provided through the media. The specific rule is that minors must not be recognisable in the information that may harm their right or interest.

All these regulations and institutional guarantees uphold the golden rule that the protection of minors prevails over the public’s right to know.

Police should have known the ‘golden rule’

People leave flowers and light candles for the victims of a shooting in front of the ‘Vladislav Ribnikar’ elementary school in Belgrade, Serbia, May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANDREJ CUKIC

Who collected the personal data of the children? First of all, the data was obtained by police officers in the preliminary investigation procedure when exercising their powers regarding a criminal offence.

According to the Law on Data protection, processing of data carried out by competent authorities for the purposes of investigation and detection of criminal acts presents processing for special purpose. At the moment when they found out that the perpetrator was a child, special provisions of the Law on Police were activated for implementation: in such cases, a special police officer for minors acts, with special knowledge of children’s rights. That police officer had to have known the golden rule.

Who communicated the personal data of the children? The Chief of Belgrade Police, as official representative of the Ministry of Interior, showed the information to all media present in the live broadcast. In doing so, he said that while his actions were probably illegal, he did it for the sake of the public’s right to knowledge.

But in doing so, he committed a crime of “unauthorized collection of personal data” – the most serious one, as he acted in the name of Ministry of Interior. The role of prosecution in this case has to be more proactive. Such an obligation is stipulated by the special protocol on the actions of judicial authorities in the protection of minors from abuse and neglect.

In doing so, the Chief of Belgrade Police opened the possibility of a misdemeanor charge for illegal processing of data through the right to privacy was breached.

Who can be held responsible for these actions?

Apart from the criminal responsibility of the Chief of Belgrade Police, a misdemeanour charge can be brought against Minister of Interior, Bratislav Gasic. The minister is the one accountable for misdemeanour conduct within the ministry. The Data Protection Commissioner can initiate the procedure. Moreover, the Ministry of Interior is responsible for the nonpecuniary damage that minor victims and their families have suffered by these illegal acts.

Police chief opened a Pandora’s box

The Chief of Belgrade Police acted unlawfully, against the rights of children. With that, he unleashed Pandora’s box of targeted secondary victimization that spread through the Internet and social networks outside Serbia’s borders and beyond the reach of Serbian laws and authorities.

The Serbian public saw the Chief of Belgrade Police for the first time on television. A terrible event forced closed and captured institutions to open up and show all of their weakness and, above all, an incomprehension of human rights and boundaries that protect the right to private life, which, when crossed, threaten safety, security, and peace of mind.

These are the very values that the police should be safeguarding.

Katarina Golubovic is a Belgrade-based attorney at law specialised in the human rights field.

The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of BIRN.

Kosovo Govt Condemned for Suspending Broadcaster’s Business Certificate

Posted on June 15, 2023December 29, 2024 by BIRD

Local and international media organizations accused the Kosovo government of attempting to curb media freedom after the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade suspended the business certificate of the private broadcaster Klan Kosova.

The ministry on Wednesday suspended its business certificate and initiated a criminal complaint against the company, responsible persons within it, and officials from the Business Registration Agency, on suspicion of misuse of official duties as well as misuse of economic authorizations.

According to a decision shared by the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, AJK, the ministry suspended Klan Kosova’s business certificate because the owners’ residential address is allegedly registered as “Peje-Serbia and Gjakove-Serbia… [which is] in violation with the basic principles of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo”. Both of these towns are in Kosovo, not Serbia.

The TV channel remains on air while the Independent Media Commission, IMC, an institution responsible for the regulation, management and oversight of the broadcasters, said it was analyzing the case.

Klan Kosova called the decision illegal and “unfair, arbitrary and with autocratic premises … and an attempt to violate the freedom of the media”.

Klan Kosova said the claim that their owners’ address was given as Peje-Serbia and Gjakove-Serbia “stemmed from a speculative article from an online portal, only a day ago”.

The AJK called the decision “unprecedented in the recent history of Kosovo, and a direct attempt to dictate and control the media content of Klan Kosova”.

It expressed concern for the staff of Klan Kosova who will be directly affected by “this arbitrary decision,” and claimed that the decision “was taken to send a message to other media, and is indisputable proof that freedom of the media and expression has never been more at risk than they are currently”.

Ricardo Gutierrez, General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists, also expressed concern.

“Withdrawing a business certificate of a media company is an extremely serious act. Especially when we’re talking about a country’s leading private broadcaster. Shame on [Prime Minister] Albin Kurti and his government,” Gutierrez wrote on Twitter.

Turkish Silence over Data Breach Speaks Volumes, Says Lawyer

Posted on June 15, 2023December 29, 2024 by BIRD

Days after news broke of a major personal data leak in Turkey, the government has yet to comment. Lawyer Veysel Ok, whose Media and Law Studies Association, MLSA, exposed the leak, says the silence speaks volumes.

According to Ok, the personal data of nearly 100 million people – Turks and foreigners alike – who live or once lived in Turkey has been stolen and offered for sale online.

The data comes from e-Devlet [e-Government], the main public administration portal in Turkey and which holds a raft of data concerning the education background, health details, bank credentials and tax status of residents.

“This topic has been on the agenda of the country for four days, but the Interior Ministry hasn’t issued a single statement and we don’t know whether an investigation has been launched,” Ok told BIRN in an interview on Monday.

“If this happened in a European Union country, the minister would have resigned the same day. Unfortunately, the personal and private information of the citizens have now become public information and we still don’t know how that happened.”

Asked whether Turkey’s laws and regulations are up to the task of securing personal data and digital rights, Ok replied: “The current laws and regulations are more than enough but the government uses them to target journalists and not for the real purpose.”

Major defender of journalists

German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel (L) hugs his Turkish Lawyer Veysel Ok during his welcome party at the Festsaal Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany, 24 March 2018. For over a year, journalist Deniz Yucel was imprisoned in Turkey without prosecution and released earlier on 16 February. Photo: EPA-EFE/HAYOUNG JEON

A 39-year-old lawyer and activist, Ok grew up in Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey, the de-facto cultural capital of Turkey’s oppressed Kurdish population.

Ok said the context in which he grew up led him to become a human rights defender; he moved to Istanbul to study law and began working with rights groups and journalists.

He has spent the past 15 years defending journalists and has his work cut out in a country that under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become one of the biggest jailers of journalists in the world.

Ok set up MLSA in 2017 after authorities began rounding up journalists and closing media outlets as part of a crackdown on dissent in the wake of a failed coup in mid-2016.

MLSA is now one of the most prominent defenders of journalists and freedom of speech in Turkey. Ok said that MLSA currently represents some 100 journalists pro bono and provides education and training to lawyers and journalists about their rights and freedoms.

The MLSA project Free Web Turkey, which monitors digital rights and censorship, first brought to the attention of the public the massive hack of the e-Devlet portal.

MLSA immediately shared the news and has filed criminal complaints against those responsible as well as the Interior Ministry, which is ultimately responsible for the security of the data.

Anyone who signs up to the site can view ID numbers, phone numbers and information about family members. More sensitive information – including full home addresses, real estate deeds, driving licences and education details – is available for a fee. Even Erdogan’s own data is on offer, as is that of main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, BIRN found when it accessed the site.

The website originally identified is now inactive, but similar sites offering the same data have popped up.

Ok called the leak “very risky and dangerous” for the personal security of the public. “For instance, the addresses of women who are victims of domestic violence can be learnt by male perpetrators via this site, putting at risk these women’s lives and physical security,” he told BIRN.

Laws used to target journalists

Screenshot of the website offers personal information of citizens including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: BIRN

Asked about Turkey’s readiness to secure digital rights and personal data, Ok offered the example of Deutsche Welle journalist Bulent Mumay, who this month was handed a suspended sentence of one year and eight months for publishing information about a construction company in defiance of a court order.

Mumay argued he was being punished for not submitting to censorship.

In Turkey, journalists are often targeted by courts. According to a report by the Progressive Journalists’ Association, in 2022 alone at least 174 court cases have been opened against journalists and media organisations and at least 40 journalists have been imprisoned or fined by the courts.

“The current laws and regulations on personal data protection are not effectively used for its original purpose but to target journalists,” Ok said.

“Unfortunately, this data is leaked and now available to everyone. Now we should learn how this data leaked and who is responsible. That’s why we have filed criminal complaints against the perpetrators and the Interior Ministry.”

Bosnia CSOs Warn that New FOI Bill Will Limit Citizens’ Rights

Posted on June 14, 2023December 29, 2024 by BIRD

A group of 20 civil society organisations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, gathered in the Initiative for Monitoring European Integration, has issued a warning on “the shortcomings of the Draft Law on Freedom of Access to Information of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” which Bosnia’s state-level government, the Council of Ministers, adopted on April 12.

“The adopted Proposal would significantly limit access to information of public interest, given that it contains a long list of exceptions or possible restrictions on access to information,” the Initiative said, adding that the new law would threaten “already acquired rights and achievements,” which is not in accordance with international practices.

“The proponent of this law turned the European standard of open and free access to public information into an exception, not a rule, which in practice could lead to the impossibility of accessing a large amount of information of public importance,” they added.

The Initiative underlined that the Ministry of Justice, in charge of drafting the law, had ignored more than 200 comments and proposals sent by the organisations during the consultations period in 2021.

They also noted that the ministry also did not consider recommendations by “competent institutions of the European Commission and SIGMA regarding the formation of a new independent body that would perform inspection supervision of the implementation of this law”.

“The members of the Initiative are preparing amendments to the adopted Proposal in order to improve it and bring it into line with international standards,” the Initiative added, inviting other CSOs, media, citizens and international community to join the discussion on the law, before it is voted in the House of Representatives of the state-level parliament.

Bosnia’s current Law on Freedom of Information was enacted in 2000. In 2001, similar legislation was adopted at entity levels. Meanwhile, in Brcko District, a separate administrative district of Bosnia, the Instructions for the Implementation of the Freedom of Access to Information Law are already in effect.

Ex-MP of Ruling Party to Lead Albania’s Public Broadcaster

Posted on June 13, 2023December 29, 2024 by BIRD

The board of directors at Albania’s public broadcaster appointed Alfred Peza, a former MP of the ruling Socialist Party, as General Director on Tuesday, local media reported, raising fresh questions about the independence of the service.

The chairman of the board, Leka Bungo, told BIRN that Peza’s appointment does not violate the law, which forbids any member of a political party or anyone who served as an MP in the last two parliamentary mandates from heading the Albanian Broadcasting Service.

Though his MP mandate expired in 2017, 56-year-old Peza remained a director of the Socialist Party until September 2021.

“He has supplied to us a document that he is not member of the [Socialist] Party,” Bungo said.

As head of the richest media group in the country, Peza will take charge of an annual budget of more than 20 million euros, collected mainly from taxpayers. Peza previously worked in private media before entering politics with the Socialist Party in 2013, the year the party returned to power.

His appointment comes after the Socialist-controlled parliament in 2021 elected the party’s former spokeswoman, Armela Krasniqi, as chairman of the Audiovisual Media Authority, Albania’s nominally independent broadcasting regulator.

Belgrade Mayor’s Chief of Cabinet Sues BIRN for Defamation

Posted on June 13, 2023December 29, 2024 by BIRD

Nenad Milanovic, chief of cabinet of Belgrade mayor Aleksandar Sapic, filed a defamation lawsuit against BIRN Serbia before the Higher Court in Belgrade, seeking 200.000 dinars (1,705 euros) in damages for mental anguish.

The lawsuit claims his reputation and honour has been damaged by the BIRN article, “Audios Reveal that Sapic’s Chief of Cabinet Offered to Fix Procurement to Kentkart”. The lawsuit states that the article is “full of absolute falsehoods”, but does not elaborate to explain which information Milanovic believes to be incorrect.

“The news published on website birn.rs was very disturbing to the plaintiff because the incriminating expressions used by the defendant were disparaging and have contributed to the damages for the plaintiff’s honour and reputation, especially in the plaintiff’s work environment, and then in the environment in which the plaintiff lives.

“Namely, the plaintiff is very successful in his job, and the insinuations mentioned in the text can have an extremely negative impact on the plaintiff’s reputation at his work and in the private sphere as well”, reads the lawsuit.

The lawsuit is filed against BIRN Serbia and its editor-in-chief Milorad Ivanovic.

Ivanovic says this is the fourth SLAPP lawsuit this year.

“This is forth SLAPP lawsuit filed against our newsroom this year. These lawsuits are not being filed in honest attempt to receive any kind of justice, but to exhaust journalists and newsroom.

“The lawsuit does not deny any fact we have published in the article. Mental anguish of public officials, their reputation and honour, cannot be above the truth,” said Ivanovic.

So-called SLAPPs aim to drain the target’s financial and psychological resources and chill critical voices, to the detriment of public participation, according to a report on SLAPP lawsuits in Serbia published in 2022 by Article 19, the American Bar Association Centre for Human Rights and the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, NUNS.

Aleksandar Sapic, the mayor of the Serbian capital, has filed two separate defamation lawsuits against BIRN Serbia, its editor and journalists in March, claiming that their reporting damaged his reputation and caused him mental anguish. He is seeking six million Serbian dinars (around 50,000 euros) in damages in each case – a total of around 100,000 euros.

Predrag Koluvija, who is on trial for alleged illicit marijuana production, in February accused BIRN of incorrectly reporting on one of his court hearings and thus damaging his reputation and causing him mental anguish. He is seeking 200,000 dinars (around 1,700 euros) in damages.

Analysing Algorithms: Bosnian Media Complain of Facebook Guessing Game

Posted on June 9, 2023December 29, 2024 by BIRD

Media outlets in Bosnia and Herzegovina have a headache, and part of the cause is Facebook.

As anywhere else around the world, the social media giant, owned by Meta, is a vital means for Bosnian media outlets to reach readers.

But editors and journalists in Bosnia tell BIRN they struggle with its inconsistency in content moderation and a lack of transparency about its algorithms. And when they call Facebook for clarification, too often they are left hanging.

“The same content is treated differently on two different Facebook profiles,” said one in an anonymous response to a BIRN survey of newsrooms, referring to the same text posted on the Facebook pages of two different media. “On one, it’s coloured orange [denoting semi-restricted content]. On another, it’s green, without any warnings or restrictions.”

“It’s confusing, and the procedure lacks transparency,” said another. “There’s no explanation; analysing algorithms comes down to experience.”

Analysing algorithms

Posting content that is deemed to violate Facebook rules can have far-reaching consequences for small media outlets, which rely on the platform’s sheer scale to reach an audience and attract advertisers. Repeat occurrences of content being flagged as false or misleading can result in a media’s visibility being reduced, or it being locked out altogether.

Meta’s website states: “Pages, groups, accounts and websites that repeatedly share misinformation will face some restrictions, including having their distribution reduced. This includes content rated False or Altered by fact-checking partners; content that is nearly identical to what fact-checkers have debunked as False or Altered…”

But even content that passes the grade must negotiate complex algorithms that push, promote or suppress visibility, determining which feeds it reaches and how often. How these algorithms work exactly is kept under wraps, and they are constantly changing.

Experimentation is the only way to get anywhere close to figuring them out, said social media expert Haris Alisic.

“Algorithms are a business secret of every company in the IT industry,” Alisic told BIRN. “That’s their competitive advantage… And, of course, there is no significant transparency around it. They do share some stuff, but it’s very general. Based on that, it is hard to figure out how the algorithm really works.”

Social media expert Haris Alisic. Photo: Courtesy of Haris Alisic.

According to Facebook, its algorithm uses “hundreds of signals” to make a prediction as to how likely a user is to engage with a post. One of the signals is, ‘Who posted the story?’

Based on these signals, the algorithm creates a “relevancy score” – “our best guess at how meaningful you will find this story”.

Facebook, however, is constantly tweaking its algorithm in response to a range of factors, including news events. Keeping up is a matter of trial and error.

Moderating content

In Bosnia, hate speech, harassment and incitement to violence remain major issues almost three decades since the end of a 1992-95 war. This is reflected in the media, and online.

Most cases of digital rights violations in Bosnia identified in BIRN’s Annual Digital Rights Report 2022 concerned “breaches related to reputation, endangering security, discrimination and hatred, and pressures on individuals because of publishing information on the internet, among others”.

But social media companies on the whole lack detailed understanding of each society in which they operate.

According to a 2022 report on content moderation in Bosnia, published by Article 19,

“87% of Facebook’s spending on misinformation goes to English-language content, despite the fact that only 9% of its users are English speaking”.

“It has also been revealed that most resources and means in terms of content moderation are being allocated to a limited number of countries.”

Content moderation becomes a problem for media outlets if it is inconsistent or ignorant of local context.

“In their policy explanations, Facebook names different reasons why certain content can be flagged, from hate speech to disinformation,” said another media worker surveyed.

“But in reality, we could see this kind of content still not removed or marked in any way, so the reader is aware of it. The responsibility of flagging the content is somehow left more to the users [individuals and organisations] and less to the company [Facebook], which is inviting people to its platform to use it but yet doesn’t protect them from this kind of content.”

In order to weed out misinformation and disinformation, Facebook relies on local fact-checkers; in the case of Bosnia, one of its partners is Raskrinkavanje, a team of 14 with backgrounds in media, political sciences, international relations and human rights.

Raskrinkavanje flags content, but it falls to Facebook to limit its reach. Media outlets need to check what they’re posting, said Elma Muric, communications editor at Raskrinkavanje.

“Journalists are not only obliged to disseminate correct information but also to stick to the ethics of journalism and fairly and impartially report about happenings and phenomena in the world,” Muric told BIRN.

“Journalists who do follow the professional and ethical standards in their reporting, for sure, will not publish anything that could be flagged as disinformation or fake news.”

META’s office in Paris. Photo: Courtesy of Haris Ališić.

Mixed experiences

Besides their headaches in trying to figure out algorithms, some editors and journalists say they also struggle to get answers from Meta itself on any number of issues.

“Tried twice; they were slow and inefficient,” said one. “Didn’t really fix the problem I was having.”

Another said: “Enable simpler contact with Meta and easier access to information, especially algorithmic changes and recommendations.”

“We need clearer procedures regarding algorithm rules,” the journalist added. “There is no alternative, especially since we keep talking about the importance they [Facebook] have regarding the public debate and online participation.”

Not everyone shares such frustration. One journalist who took part in the survey told BIRN about their experience resolving an attempted scam:

“I reached out to the Meta team and in a very short time I had a phone call with one of their crew, who checked from their side, and besides assuring us that it was a scam, not a real note from them, they shared advice on what to do to protect ourselves immediately, and how to recognise in the future if something is sent from there, or if it’s again some scam.”

Alisic described his own experience dealing with Facebook as “amazing”.

“We had a very close relationship. We still do,” he said. “They were always very professional and very quick to respond. They have very hard-working people.”

Given Facebook’s sheer size, inevitably there will be issues with communication, he said.

“You have to understand that there are tens of millions of pages on Facebook. It is literally impossible for them to be able to respond to everything timely, quickly, or personally, so just like in every other company, I guess they have to prioritise.”

BIRN contacted Meta for a response to this story, but received no reply.

Turkish Citizens’ Personal Data Offered Online After Govt Site Hacked

Posted on June 9, 2023December 29, 2024 by BIRD

A website called sorgupaneli.org is offering to provide Turkish citizens’ private data that was stolen from the e-Devlet government services website, even claiming to be able to offer President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s personal information.

The hacked information that is being offered for free by the website in return for a membership signup includes ID numbers, phone numbers and information about people’s family members.

More sensitive information, including full addresses, real estate deeds and education details, is being offered with a paid premium membership.

When BIRN accessed the website, it said that the personal data on offer includes information about high-ranking state and government officials including Erdogan and Turkey’s main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Experts said that the data theft is the biggest yet in Turkey and constitutes a major digital security problem.

“First and foremost, access to this website should be blocked. Following this, a full-scale investigation should be launched,” Sule Ozsoy Boyunsuz, a professor of constitutional law, told HALK TV.

The Turkish authorities have so far remained silent on the issue and the website remains accessible although it often crashes due to the high demand putting pressure on its servers.

e-Devlet, which means e-government, is the main public administration portal in Turkey, and includes personal information including details about education, health, banking credentials and tax status.

For several years, the e-Devlet website has been criticised for not being secure enough, but the authorities have dismissed the claims.