The conference was organized in Podgorica organized by OSCE ODIHR and the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, 16-18 May 2022.
The event gathered representatives of Election Authorities and Civil Society from the region. Aleksoska was the speaker on the Day 2 Session V: Free speech vs. intolerant language and discrimination - How can hate speech be monitored effectively during elections and why is it important? What challenges do regulators face in ensuring compliance with international freedom of expression standards? Election management bodies efforts to counter disinformation and hate speech from a voter education perspective. Along side Ms. Aleksoska the following speakers took part Ms. Irena Hadžiabdić, Member of the Central Election Commission, Bosnia and Herzegovina Mr. Tom Bonsundy-O'Bryan, Product Policy Manager Misinformation, Meta. The session was moderated by Ms. Giovana Maiola - ODIHR Media Expert.
The Moderators introduced the ‘hate speech’ and to the interplay between hate speech and disinformation, Hadžiabdić highlighted what type of actions can EMBs undertake to counter disinformation and hate speech from a voter education perspective. The representative of Meta Bonsundy-O'Bryan presented the social platform’s Community Standards on fighting misinformation, including in electoral contexts, through a three-part strategy: removing contents that violate the platform’s policies by contributing to imminent physical violence or harm; reducing the distribution of a story in News Feed when rated as false or altered by factcheckers; and informing the community so they can decide what to read, trust and share.
Ms. Aleksoska presented evidence on disinformation campaigns in the framework of North Macedonia’s 2018 referendum and 2020 parliamentary elections, thereby shedding lights on the main strategies malign actors used to disseminate false narratives and amplify them among voters.
