“Zašto ne” at the European Dialogues in Skopje: Countering disinformation while protecting press freedom
Ivana Vučetić represented CA “Zašto ne” at the European Dialogues in Skopje, taking part in a panel on whether the fight against disinformation can undermine freedom of the press. Together with Bardhyl Jashari from the “Metamorphosis” Foundation and Cécile Moscovitz from AOC, she discussed different approaches in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Western Balkans and France, with a particular focus on elections, platform accountability and safeguards for independent journalism.
Photo by: Ognen Acevski
From 29 September to 2 October 2026, the Institut français and the Embassy of France in North Macedonia organized a new edition of the European Dialogues in Skopje, within the “Facing War – European Dialogues series and the Shared Horizons” programme.
As part of the programme, Ivana Vučetić participated on behalf of CA “Zašto ne” in the panel “Does the fight against disinformation undermine freedom of the press?”, organized in cooperation with the “Metamorphosis” Foundation. The discussion was moderated by Filip Stojanovski from “Metamorphosis” and brought together perspectives and experiences from Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and France.
Alongside Vučetić, the panel featured Bardhyl Jashari, Executive Director of the “Metamorphosis” Foundation, a Skopje-based organization working on democracy, digital rights, information integrity and civic participation in the digital environment. Jashari has extensive experience in the development of the information society and in cooperation between civil society, institutions and international organizations. The French perspective was presented by Cécile Moscovitz, Secretary General of the editorial team at AOC (Analyse Opinion Critique), an independent French online publication. Before joining AOC, Moscovitz worked in publishing, including at Gallimard, in research and cultural policy, and served as a cultural attaché for books at the French Embassy in Italy.
The panel focused on different approaches to countering disinformation, the relationship between information integrity and freedom of expression, and the role of journalists, fact-checkers, institutions, platforms and civil society. The participants compared experiences from the Western Balkans and France, discussing how different political, media and regulatory environments shape responses to disinformation and what safeguards are necessary to ensure that measures aimed at protecting the information space do not create pressure on independent journalism.
Representing CA “Zašto ne”, Ivana Vučetić presented experiences from Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a particular focus on disinformation and manipulation during election periods. She highlighted Zašto ne’s work through political accountability and fact-checking projects, as well as different methods used to strengthen information integrity, including verification of political and media claims, monitoring of problematic content on online platforms, corrections, research, media literacy and preventive approaches such as prebunking. Her contribution stressed that countering disinformation should be based on accountability and transparency rather than control, and that fact-checking and corrections should strengthen journalistic standards rather than be understood as censorship.
The discussion also addressed challenges specific to the Western Balkans, including small and linguistically interconnected information spaces, the cross-border circulation of disinformation, uneven institutional capacities and shortcomings in local-language content moderation and appeal mechanisms on major online platforms.
Participation in the panel provided an opportunity to present “Zašto ne’s” experience from Bosnia and Herzegovina, exchange practices with organizations and experts from other European contexts, and contribute to a broader discussion on how democratic societies can respond to disinformation while preserving media freedom, pluralism and freedom of expression.
(Zašto ne)