08. 11. 2013

DELICATE BALANCE BETWEEN PRIVACY AND SECURITY

Belgrade, November 8, 2013 (Danas) - The key words of Serbia in the process of transition are freedom and responsibility of media, the topical issues instigated just in time. Internet is the main platform for communications in the digital age, and every individual is a potential media. It is up to the Government of Serbia to align laws in the media sphere with actual trends. Life of journalists in this country is hard, they work for small wages and are exposed to many pressures. This only leads to lack of professionalism and self-censorship... Our task is to solve the murders of journalists and put perpetrators before justice, the Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said at the opening of the conference "Freedom of expression and democracy in digital age - opportunities, rights, responsibilities", at Metropol Palace hotel.

The Council of Europe Secretary General Torbjørn Jagland stressed that the responsibility of the authorities was greater in the changed image of the world, in Twitter revolutions.

"There is no democracy without freedom of speech, and we are much in tardiness in that respect. I sincerely fear for lives of journalists and bloggers", Jagland said, adding that he was shocked by reports on activities of some national security agencies and stressed "that is how the democracy is killed".

"Balkans have extensive experience with the hate speech, and the issue of hate speech is the issue of freedom of expression", Jagland concluded.

At the two-day international conference, topics that will be disucssed are the access to internet and fundamental rights, threats to journalists, pluralism and quality of new media - opportunities and risks, hate speech on the internet, as well as delicate balance between individual's privacy and national security.