The Invisible Hand of Media Censorship: Three Examples from the Balkans 

BFMI’s first report examines political manipulation of media markets in Bulgaria, Serbia and North Macedonia. The report, titled The Invisible Hand of Media Censorship, points to the clear decline in media freedoms across the Balkans and calls for greater action to tackle the shady commercial practices used to control media markets. 

October 2021

The report was launched in launched in the Brussels Press Club. Coverage of the event can be found here.  

Speaking at the event, Member of the European Parliament Radan Kanev stated: “BFMI’s report is one of the most serious researchers made on the Balkan media market. Its findings are relevant to many European markets, beyond Bulgaria, Serbia and North Macedonia.” 

President of the European Parliament David Sassoli endorsed BFMI’s report and congratulated the organisation on its work.  

“Faced with declining freedoms, we have the duty to reaffirm them more than before. We must make our voice heard stronger than we have done in recent months. We must do this because being free means having knowledge, and our knowledge is real only when information is free.” 

Read MEP David Sassoli full message to BFMI here.

The main practices identified in the report include:  

  • Control of public broadcasters and regulatory authorities 

  • Abuse of weak regulation on transparency of ownership 

  • Abuse of government subsidies to foster clientelism in weak, over-saturated media markets  

Key findings 

  1. In Bulgaria, an EU-member state, non-transparent distribution of EU funds is being used to buy favour with media outlets.    

  2. In Serbia, many media owners and operators have close ties to the ruling SNS party, and the government is increasingly using state-owned entities such as Telekom Srbija to manipulate the commercial market. 

  3. In North Macedonia, state financing of the media sector continues despite promises of reform from the government. 

Key findings