Relation between children’s rights and media, hate speech and hate crime focus of OSCE-supported regional conference on safeguarding human rights in Western Balkans
The responsibility of others in protecting children’s physical, moral and mental development, as well as children’s upbringing to guard them against the harmful media and internet content s was the focus of the first day of the two-day Western Balkans Regional Conference – Protect and Respect – Safeguarding Human Rights. The Conference is organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in partnership with Agency for Electronic Media and Office for the Protection of Human Rights of Montenegro, on 23 and 24 November 2017 in Podgorica.
Moderator Dragoljub Duško Vuković (c) discusses about protection of children from harmful media content during a workshop, Podgorica, 23 November 2017.
During the conference, members of the diplomatic corps of Montenegro and representatives from media, civil society, international organizations, the Montenegrin government, parliament and political parties to discuss the importance of the protection of children from harmful media content, the protection of children’s privacy and the depiction of family life in the media, with a special emphasis on the exploitation of children in political advertising and the role of media literacy in negating the damaging effects that media content can have on children and minors. The second day is dedicated to the concept of hate speech and hate crime.
The conference offers an opportunity to explore and discuss the different experiences of the participants with the mentioned topics in order to enable the drafting of specific proposals for future activities by the Mission and Montenegrin institutions on this theme.
"It’s everyone’s duty to actively protect children’s physical and mental development. The Mission’s close partnership with the Montenegrin institutions and media illustrates our collective determination to ensure that children’s rights are fully protected,” said Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro Maryse Daviet.
Abaz Džafić, General Director of the Agency for Electronic Media, stated: “Recognizing that dynamic changes in the media sphere have a strong impact on the lives of children and young people, we need to intensify activities related to the importance of protecting minors from the negative influence of certain media content.”
“ The conference provides an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences and everyday practices throughout the region, and to draw on these experiences to develop sound guidelines to ensure that children’s rights are fully respected by the media,” Džafić concluded.
Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
- 376 reads
