The workshop took place in Skopje from 13th until 15th September 2017

At invitation by the KAS Media Program, experts from ten countries met to discuss the spread of fake news and how to address it

A public panel discussion on the topic took place on 14th September

The participants were experts from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia, Rumania and Serbia

Named after Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the international working group deals with media freedom and law in South East Europe. At invitation by the KAS Media Program, experts from ten countries met to discuss the spread of fake news and how to address it. The workshop took place in Skopje from 13th until 15th September 2017.

Christian Spahr, Head of the KAS Media Program South East Europe, opened the seminar. He mentioned cyberattacks in France and Germany as well as disinformation campaigns in Bulgaria and other countries as examples for the influence of digital threats for the public discourse. Prof. Johannes Weberling, founder of the working group and professor for media law at Viadrina European University, underlined that the EU could play an important role to combat fake news in South East Europe.

The first part of the workshop was focused on the impact of fake news on media and possible countermeasures. It was led by Christian Mihr, Director of the German section of "Reporters Without Borders". He explained that in general the term described the distribution of manipulated and false contents. Yet, there is not enough knowledge about the actual influence of fake news. According to a study by the German digital association Bitkom from February 2017, 68 percent of responders perceived fake news in conventional or social media in the preceding year. A KAS poll shows a similar result for Bulgaria, 72 percent have been recognizing fake news.

Therefore, Prof. Weberling added, that it was important to provide more information on fake news and its impact on the citizens. The flaws of a new German law to enforce the rule of law in social networks showed that measures against fake news needed to be internationalised, said Mihr. Furthermore, the decision on the legality of

contents should not be made by private companies. In conclusion Mihr warned that such laws might also be misused to suppress media freedom.

More in the event report.