The
divisive situation around the newly adopted Law on Freedom of religion of
Montenegro has been used by disinformation outlets in the region to foment
division, resembling the practice already detected in Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia.
The
adoption of the Law on Freedom of Religion, enacted by the Parliament of
Montenegro on 27 December 2019, attracted significant media attention across
the region and especially in Serbia. Coverage mainly focused on provisions
related to the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) in Montenegro.
The analysis of press clipping pointed at fair reporting, but also highlighted propaganda,
disinformation and fake news, which reached its peaks in the first week of
January.
As
reported in the media across the region, the one of the disputed provisions in
the law concerns proof of ownership of property by religious communities.
According to the
Montenegrin Digital Forensic Centre,
35.000 news articles and social media posts opposing the Law have been
published over the last three months. As reported, 20.000 of these news items
came from Serbia and 9.000 came from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
From
Russian to Serbian media
Enactment
of the Law led to political tensions, violent incidents in the Parliament of
Montenegro, and series of protests organised by the SOC in different towns in
Montenegro as well as in Serbia and the Republic of Srpska entity of Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
The
sources of the false reporting included media which were based in Serbia (some
of them state-owned), Russian owned in Serbian language media (Sputnik) and
some Montenegro based news portals. They also often disseminated unverified
manipulative content created by users of social networks and statements
by Russian, Montenegrin and Serbian politicians and clergy representatives...
The
phantom of 2015
Some
media extensively wrote about the Serbian orthodox church property claiming it
will “end up in the hands of the rival Montenegrin Orthodox Church”, which is
a “fake church” and “schismatic”, claiming that the SOC properties will be rented
or sold or made tourist resorts and attractions. Another narrative was depicting the conspiracy theory that the Government
of Montenegro is planning to give away SOC’s sanctities and relics to the Holy
See and/or Order of Malta.
Another
tactic, exposed by some local fact checkers, was the use of articles from a
2015 version of a draft law which were not adopted by Montenegro and which are
not part of the adopted law, to create a false picture of the effects of the
new law. Those old texts included provisions that religious communities with an
official seat outside of Montenegro would be prevented from registering, that
the Government would be able to approve the election of heads of religious
communities, that religious organisations could be easily abolished and their
property transferred to the Government etc. None of them
have been included in the currently approved text.
And
then there is NATO…
Fuelling
conspiracy theories, wrongful messages circulated that the government
planned to invite 250 members of Kosovo’s special police ROSU to help ensure
order on Christmas Eve. The Government reacted
very quickly, announcing on
Twitter that it was fake news.
The news portal that broke this story, deleted it shortly thereafter. The
disinformation came at a critical time, when tensions were high and many people
were engaged in protests.
Anti-NATO
sentiments were used to increase the sense of conspiracy. Media alleged that the NATO’s counter-hybrid support team visiting Montenegro
were tasked with “taking down sites and portals that disobey the Montenegrin
President’s rule, controlling the internet, manipulating mass protests by
diminishing their numbers, blaming archbishops through mounted texts…”
The
situation has heavily stirred emotions within the country and partially
sustained the protests that had started in December last year, right after the
adoption of the Law.
Source: euvsdisinfo.eu
