Regional perspective of online campaign monitoring and regulation
A two-day conference "Regional Perspectives of the Online Election Campaign - Challenges and Opportunities for Electoral Integrity" ended today in Podgorica. The conference was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) and the OSCE Mission to Montenegro. The conference was held in a hybrid format (live and online) and brought together about 70 representatives of relevant state institutions and election management bodies, members of working groups for electoral legislation reform, media and data protection regulators, and civil society organizations from the Western Balkans, as well as ODIHR election experts.
The aim of the conference was to exchange knowledge and experiences on the impact of online campaigns on electoral integrity and approaches to the regulation and monitoring of online campaigns.
Dr. Irena Hadžiabdić attended the conference on behalf of the BiH Central Election Commission. During the session dedicated to freedom of speech and intolerant language and discrimination dr. Hadžiabdić talked about legal solutions in BiH related to hate speech, sanctions and challenges in implementing the BiH Election Law.
Efforts were made to provide answers on how hate speech and misinformation can be effectively monitored during elections, and on how election management bodies confront misinformation and intolerant language from a voter education perspective.
The conference participants also discussed the regulation of online advertising and data protection, the role of social media in election campaigns and their impact on the dynamics of contestation and electoral integrity, as well as standards and good electoral practices related to online campaigns.