ONLINE MEDIA IN NORTH MACEDONIA: LEGAL FRAMEWORK, CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Online media in North Macedonia falls under the same legal framework as traditional media, with laws and regulations governing issues such as freedom of expression, defamation, hate speech, and privacy. The legal framework for online media in North Macedonia includes the Law on Media, which applies to both traditional and online media outlets. This law sets out regulations concerning the registration and operation of media outlets, as well as standards for journalistic ethics and professional conduct. Media outlets are indirectly regulated by multiple laws and regulations that intersect with other areas of law, such as telecommunications and information technology, copyright infringement, cybercrime, and the spread of misinformation or harmful content. However, online media in North Macedonia are not regulated and are subject to self-regulation. The need for strengthening self-regulation of online media has been stated in ethe EC Country Progress Report in the past few years. The global trend of receiving news by online media gives the digital environment the possibility to use algorithms in order to adjust the content to the viewers’ preferences but at the same time the online environment can be used for spreading disinformation. Online media in North Macedonia have become an unregulated space where disinformation has been spread very often for different purposes, and social networks have been used for the same purposes, too. One of the key challenges of the Macedonian media landscape is how ethical and professional principles that apply to traditional media could be also applied to the online media as a growing source of information for the public. The paper analyses the need for changess and development of a legal framework governing online media in North Macedonia in response to technological advancements, changes in societal norms, and international developments.