Twenty-seven-year-old Marianne Spring, who became a well-known journalist with her reporting on the way social media is used to spread false information, is now facing a nasty charge of giving wrong information herself and lying that she worked with a respected correspondent for the British BBC service. -Si" in order to try to secure a new job. World media reported that about five years ago, Ms. Spring was trying to get a job as a...

As we announced during our last visit to Belgrade in June this year, The European Parliament is fully committed to continuing the Parliamentary Dialogue Process in Serbia. I am glad that we have received the same commitment from the leadership of the Serbian parliament and representatives of political parties in the National Assemly, says Vladimir Bilcik, the European Parliaments rapporteur for Serbia, who also served as a mediator in previous phases of inter-party dialogue on improving ele...

Political instability across Kosovo exists, but security risks exist primarily in the north, according to Janjic. Referring to the conflict in Ukraine, which has raised the stakes in both the Kosovo and Bosnian conflicts, Janjic adds that relevant assessments suggest that a scenario similar to what happened in May, when demonstrators attacked and injured 90 KFOR personnel, is currently unlikely. However, no one can guarantee that one, two, or all sides will not initiate incidents. "Not only ...

French and German experts have unveiled a proposal for comprehensive reforms of the European Union in response to increasing pressure to admit new member states by the end of this decade. The study, titled "Sailing on High Seas – Reforming and Enlarging the EU for the 21stCentury,” was developed by 12 experts from the two largest EU countries with the aim of altering the rules to prepare the EU for the accession of "three or more countries." As a result, the authors propose a model o...

KFOR Commander, Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia, has held this position since October 2022, and he will be handing over his duties to a new commander from Turkey in October of this year. During a briefing with Belgrade journalists, Ristuccia discussed the current security situation, particularly in light of the incidents in northern Kosovo on May 29th when KFOR soldiers were injured. He emphasizes that a political solution to the Kosovo issue is essential, and it requires the willingnes...

In tourist brochures, it is mandatory to mention that when you come to Bled, you mustnt allow yourself to miss trying the famous Bled cream cakes, first crafted by the master pastry chef Istvan Lukacevic over half a century ago. In the late forties of the last century, he moved from Senta, in Vojvodina, to Bled with his family, and in 1953, as the head of the pastry shop in the old "Park" hotel, he invented the recipe for the now well-known cream cake. Unlike the Bled cream cake, which has an ol...

The Ministry of Education considers all incoming initiatives, considering all objective circumstances. It should be borne in mind that media literacy is part of free teaching activities, which are already being implemented, the Ministry of Education of Serbia told Demostat, answering our questions regarding the initiative of Demostat to introduce the subject of media literacy into the Serbian school system. In Croatia, a Handbook for primary school teachers entitled "Media Literacy" was recently...

In recent days, the citizens of the Western Balkans have been looking with nervousness and mistrust at the announcements about the establishment of the new European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) for entering the Schengen area, which should be established sometime at the beginning of next year 2024. It is a new type of authorization for entering EU countries and the Schengen zone, which will cost 7 euros. The European Commission is determined and says that the fee charged t...

N1 and Nova S are cable television stations, not national frequency television stations. These things cannot be compared. These two television stations are influential, but its meaningless to compare the significance of cable television with those on national frequency. Its silly to talk about who has dominance and who doesnt," said Zoran Panovic, the program director of Demostat, during his appearance on the "Jutro" morning show on TV Prva on September 9th. Despite the hosts repeated claims tha...

The topic of potential early elections in Serbia has been a recurring question in discussions over the past few months, but as far as I know, no official decision has been made. Commenting on this topic at this moment would only fuel further speculation. What I would like to emphasize is the active role played by the European Parliament, in collaboration with Serbian political actors and relevant institutions, in improving electoral conditions during the previous phases of the inter-party dialog...

Twenty-two years later, despite all the information received, there are still conspiracy theories in the United States about who is behind the terrorist attacks, whether the leader Osama Bin Laden was killed, and whether America itself carried out the attacks to start the war in the Middle East in an attempt to replenish its oil reserves. On the other hand, some world media still write that the truth about the attacks is still hidden among conspiracy theories, myths, and fake news, but also man...

Zoran Panovic, the Program Director of Demostat, stated that Serbian society is facing fundamental issues and a major dilemma, similar to the situation in 1989. He noted that the upcoming parliamentary elections will need to address these strategic questions about where society is heading and what it wants to become. He drew parallels with Poland, where the current parliamentary elections are seen as crucial for the country due to tensions and its international position. Panovic mentioned that ...

The social networks - Twitter, Meta, TikTok, and YouTube - have failed to stop the massive Russian disinformation campaigns launched since the start of the war in Ukraine, according to a study published by the European Commission. The report states that in 2023, the influence of Kremlin-backed social media accounts further increased. Namely, since Elon Musk bought the company Twitter, now X, Russian disinformation has been spreading on an even larger scale. A study published last week looked ...

The coordinators of the Serbian Progressive Party have already received instructions to prepare for parliamentary and city assembly elections in Belgrade in December, unofficially learned by Demostat from sources in the political scene of Serbia. These sources comment on the frequent media claims that the last month of this year is the most likely deadline for the new voting. However, our interviewees note that the practice of issuing instructions to the SNS committees to "be prepared" for elect...

The research, recently published in the journal Science Advances, aimed to identify some of the main threats advanced text generators pose in the digital world, particularly disinformation and fake news on social media. "Our research group is dedicated to understanding the impact of scientific misinformation and ensuring the safe engagement of individuals with information," study author Federico Germani, a researcher at the Institute for Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine, told Psypost...

The year 2030 is indeed the latest possible deadline for Serbias EU membership, as revealed by Demostat on January 30th, from diplomatic circles. This information, from the article titled The Carrot and Stick of the European Proposal, was officially confirmed by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on Monday, August 28th, while participating in the Bled Strategic Forum. Just a few hours later, French President Emmanuel Macron, in a public address, clearly warned Belgrade and Pr...

All over the world, people are inundated with fake news, misleading information, and half-truths on matters of health, politics, science... Journalists are on the front lines in this fight for the truth, trying to provide citizens with accurate news and information. However, in the "post-truth" era, independent journalism faces enormous restrictions as governments pass laws to combat the spread of disinformation and "fake news," which both intentionally and unintentionally affect press freedom...

Disinformation has also found its business place. Whats frightening is that these undesirable phenomena have now begun to generate online finances at the expense of gullible citizens. Specifically, the internet, an unlimited space full of challenges but also stalkers ready to steal not only identities but entire profiles of public figures, institutions, and even officials to achieve their goals, has recently been on the rise, as reported by global media. Analyses on this topic indicate that reg...

Editorial comment The bilateral meeting between the presidents of Serbia and Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky and Aleksandar Vucic, which took place at the Athens summit of the EU-Western Balkans, or more precisely, the EU-Western Balkans - "Eastern Neighbors," overshadowed all other topics discussed by the host of the event, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and other participants. Zelensky once again demonstrated his mastery of "Twitter diplomacy," as the essence of his face-to-face meetin...

How Susceptible Are Americans to Misinformation? Survey participants were presented with 20 headlines – ten true and ten false, and it turned out that they correctly classified the headline as true or false in about two-thirds of the news. The average number of correctly classified titles is 13 out of 20, with similar accuracy for true and false titles; the average for each set is about 7 out of 10. The false headline most Americans identified as correct is the following: "Republicans D...