Facebook sparks controversy in the Balkans

In the last few weeks, two interesting stories made the press involving the social networking website Facebook and the Balkans. On December 1, the International Herald Tribune reported that police detained 22 year old Niksa Klecak – creator of the Facebook group "I bet I can find 5,000 people who dislike [Croatian Prime Minister Ivo] Sanader." Police questioned Klecak for three hours and searched his home and computer. Several defended the detention, claiming that the group included a photo montage of Sanader in a Nazi uniform - Nazi symbols are banned under Croatian law.

Others, including political analyst Jelena Lovric and Social Democrats leader Zoran Milanovic, claim it is a veiled attempt to quash growing dissent that pervades the internet. An earlier Facebook group in protest of Sanader already had 80,000 members. Klecak’s group has attracted more than 5,000, and in the wake of his detention, almost 3,000 joined a new group called "Search my flat, you Gestapo gang, Croatia is not a police state." Sanader might be disappointed to hear that "I bet I can find 7,000 people who LIKE Sanader" only brought together 19 Facebookers. Ouch.

Meanwhile in Serbia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that a Facebook group proclaiming that the massacre at the Bosnian town of Srebrenica is a model for "fighting Islam" has popped up and drawn some 1,000 members. An estimated 7,000 Muslim men and boys were killed at Srebrenica in an act of genocide. A group in Bosnia-Herzegovina is asking Serbian officials to shut down the page and to prevent the Internet from being used as a forum to promote hate speech. No action thus far has been taken. 

These cases bring to mind the usual questions. What is freedom of speech? Should there be limitations to freedom of speech? etc., etc. However, what must not be overlooked is that while both cases are controversial in nature, they are both being openly discussed in and out of country. While it is disheartening to see a man be detained for starting an opposition Facebook group, and it’s just plain disgusting to see so many people support what most consider genocide, we should be reassured that the citizens of these countries as well as international observers are informed. In stark contrast, over the weekend 90 people were detained in Russia for participating in an opposition rally organized by Garry Kasparov. You may have read about it; the Russian press (for some reason) has overlooked this story.

(photo by ManilaRyce)

Press freedom in Russia

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a France-based nonprofit organization, recently released its annual report, Freedom of the Press Worldwide in 2008. In it, RSF has developed a rather strong argument that the Russian government is actively destroying independent media and seeks to quash any signs of dissent or opposition.

Basically, the situation facing Russia's independent media can be summed up in any number of negative words: horrible, dire, God awful… In the last year, the Russian government has raided and shut down several independent newspapers, and others had to shut down because printers were too afraid to publish the newspapers. Novaya Gazeta, Novyj Times, and Kommersant are the only major independent outlets that remain.

Throughout the year, several independent journalists were arrested just for covering opposition demonstrations. Many journalists were brutally beaten. Most recently on November 13, editor Mikhail Beketov was found in a pool of his own blood after receiving numerous death threats for opposing the construction of a bridge. Also, at least two journalists were forcibly sent to psychiatric hospitals this year – an old trick straight out of the Soviet playbook where you discredit the dissenter by claiming he's insane and end up making him insane because Russian mental hospitals could break even Chuck Norris. It's pretty old school, but effective and a clear violation of human rights.

Where does this leave the Russian population? Well, the dissenting portion of the population remains under constant threat of losing their freedom or their lives. And the remainder of the population is informed of only what the government wants known. For example, if today you should happen to peruse Izvestiya – a state-owned paper – you might be interested in one of its top stories: "Is Barack Obama the Anti-Christ?" Happy reading, Russia.