Centre for Civic Education (CCE), ahead of 18 June – the International Day for Countering Hate Speech – warns that hate speech, particularly in the digital space, has become part of everyday communication in Montenegro. The Constitution, the Criminal Code and the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination prohibit incitement to hatred and intolerance on any personal grounds, yet the internet remains a space in which hatred spreads rapidly and with almost no consequences.
The scale of the problem in the digital space is also illustrated by the monitoring of comments on seven of the most-read portals (Vijesti, Borba, CdM, Portal Analitika, Dan, Antena M and RTCG) – conducted by CCE in one wave last year. Out of 1,217 analyzed posts and 12,969 comments, hate speech was recorded in comments under 22% of posts, while 13% of all comments contained elements of hate speech – ranging from ethnic denigration and dehumanization, calls for violence and expulsion, to the glorification of war crimes and genocidal narratives. There are significant differences among platforms: while 86 problematic comments were recorded on Instagram, as many as 718 were recorded on Facebook, most often targeting Bosniaks, Albanians and Croats from Boka, as well as addressing identity-sensitive topics.
A recent mapping of hate speech in Montenegro, conducted by the Council of Europe and the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM), shows that hate speech is no longer an incident, but a normalized phenomenon often presented as a “joke,” “opinion” or “criticism,” while the digital sphere remains the dominant channel for its spread. The most frequent targets are women, particularly those active in the public sphere, women in politics, journalism and civil society activism – followed by LGBTIQ+ persons, Roma and Egyptians, and other ethnic and religious minorities. Citizens identify politicians’ speech as its most common source, followed by online platforms and the media. A similar picture is provided by an IPSOS survey for the UN from December 2024, according to which as many as 93% of citizens notice hate speech in their environment, while a significant share of young people are unable to clearly distinguish between freedom of expression and hate speech.
However, the figures are only part of the broader picture, as online hate speech has long since become functional – politically useful to those who mobilize voters through fear and division, and commercially profitable for a segment of the media for whom every inflammatory comment brings more clicks. Paradoxically, it is precisely unsanctioned hatred that becomes a threat to freedom of speech, because those who are targeted by it increasingly choose silence, withdrawal from the public sphere and self-censorship. Online hatred no longer remains only on the screen, but spills over into real life, fuels intolerance and creates an environment in which discrimination and violence become more acceptable. This is also confirmed by the events of October last year, when, following an incident in Zabjelo, numerous xenophobic and Islamophobic outbursts were recorded against Turkish citizens living and working in Montenegro, along with verbal attacks, vandalism and gatherings where discriminatory narratives were spread. Reactions by certain political parties, as well as by media in Montenegro and media from Serbia close to Aleksandar Vučić’s regime, also contributed to the rise in tensions. In this way, one case was abused to spread collective intolerance toward an entire community.
We are also witnessing the targeting of journalists and activists on social networks as foreign mercenaries, traitors and the like, while unregistered, as well as some registered, portals freely spread disinformation and propaganda. Hatred also comes from within institutions themselves: in a post by the secretary of one parliamentary group, Marica Bulatović, transgender persons were described using derogatory terms. Because of this, CCE, within the “Equality” Coalition, requested that the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office open a case, that the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms examine the allegations, and that the competent parliamentary group initiate disciplinary proceedings, particularly in light of the recently adopted Binding Instruction of the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office for handling cases of hate speech and hate crimes.
What connects many of these cases is institutional passivity. An analysis of the Protector’s recommendations shows that this institution often remains a lone corrective whose recommendations do not have binding force and are frequently ignored, while prosecutors and courts rarely recognize hate speech, often reclassifying it as the misdemeanor of “disturbing public order and peace.”
The fight against hate speech is not a matter of censorship or the protection of a single group, but a matter of protecting human dignity, preserving democratic space and respecting fundamental European values. The case law of the European Court of Human Rights confirms that hate speech does not enjoy the protection of freedom of expression, and the obligation to align with these European standards forms an integral part of Montenegro’s European obligations.
Therefore, CCE calls on institutions, media and political actors to stop relativizing hate speech and to respond to it consistently, promptly and without selectivity, while investing in media and digital literacy, especially among young people.
The International Day for Countering Hate Speech is observed on 18 June, based on United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/75/309, adopted in July 2021. The date was chosen as the anniversary of the adoption of the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech in 2019.
Enes Pućurica, Programme Associate