Reports & Publications
BFMI conducts in-depth research into topical media freedom issues affecting the region, with a focus on often overlooked structural issues around ownership, regulation and funding of the media that threaten democracy and stability in the Balkans.
We work with local organisations and experts to harness their efforts and bring greater international attention to the problems facing free media in the region.
Our publications inform and guide policymakers in the Balkans and beyond.
BFMI and Sensika’s TikTokcracy Tracker #2
The second edition of the current tracker covers the peak of the election campaign, with the Bulgarian parliamentary elections scheduled for 19 April. Bulgarian media and political leaders have speculated about a so-called "Romanian moment."
This report does not find manipulation on the scale of what occurred in Romania in December 2024. It does, however, find a qualitatively different problem, in which the manipulation is distributed across the political spectrum, generated domestically, and embedded within the competitive dynamics of the election itself.
BFMI and Sensika’s TikTokcracy Tracker
This tracker is part of BFMI’s & Sensika's ongoing effort to close the gap between the identification of manipulation and the institutional response to it. The report mapped the tactics and infrastructure of algorithmic manipulation across the region, identified Bulgaria as a persistently high-risk environment, and flagged specific dormant networks that had not yet been activated.
Tackling TikTokcracy in the Balkans
Published in November 2025, this report uncovers how algorithmic manipulation and captured media ecosystems are shaping elections and public trust in the Balkans and across Europe. The report shows how both online platforms and traditional media amplified manipulative narratives, often without adequate scrutiny.
Hungarian media investment in the Balkans: a test for Europe's media law
Published in October 2025, this report unveils how the Hungarian media investments have raised pressing questions about ownership transparency, political influence across the Balkans, and the limits of the EU's new European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).
The Invisible Hand of Media Censorship: A closer look at media ownership in the Balkans and the European Media Freedom Act
Published in 2024, this report provides insights and recommendations for the implementation of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) in both EU member states and candidate countries
Defunding Disinformation in the Balkans: how international brands support Russia’s agenda
Published in 2023 in partnership with the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), this report unveils the major brands who unknowingly fund disinformation through their advertising supply chain.
Can Free Media help prevent a Kosovo-Serbia Crisis?
A 2023 roundtable of experts, hosted by BFMI, to share insights and identify areas for collaboration. The roundtable discussed the role of a free media in Kosovo-Serbia relations and potential solutions.
All Publications
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This tracker is part of BFMI’s & Sensika's ongoing effort to close the gap between the identification of manipulation and the institutional response to it. The report mapped the tactics and infrastructure of algorithmic manipulation across the region, identified Bulgaria as a persistently high-risk environment, and flagged specific dormant networks that had not yet been activated.
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Published in November 2025, this report uncovers how algorithmic manipulation and captured media ecosystems are shaping elections and public trust in the Balkans and across Europe. The report shows how both online platforms and traditional media amplified manipulative narratives, often without adequate scrutiny.
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The cases presented here show how opaque ownership structures and hidden financial flows can quietly erode media freedom — even in the EU’s immediate neighborhood. Unless addressed, these vulnerabilities risk spilling over into Europe’s wider information space.
The Balkans’ fragile democratic institutions make the region an easy target, but the warning is Europe-wide. Without stronger safeguards, similar tactics could be replicated anywhere, undermining trust in the media and weakening democratic resilience.
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November 2024
BFMI found that the new European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) could fall short in the Balkans. There are doubts around the will and the ability of national regulators to fully enforce the EMFA’s provisions. The Act itself also needs strengthening if Brussels’ laudable ambitions for improved media freedom are to be met.
The report provided a set of recommendations for national bodies, European institutions and the upcoming European Board for Media Services, which will be in charge of monitoring the implementation of the EMFA, in order to strengthen the act and account for the unique challenges presented by the Balkan countries featured in this report.
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December 2023
BFMI, in collaboration with the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), explore how advertising revenues from major North American and European brands are funding and legitimising media outlets that disseminate disinformation on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Kosovo, and other divisive issues in the Balkans.
The report calls on policymakers, civil society and the private sector to take concrete steps to ensure corporate advertising strategies strengthen independent media and democracy in the region.
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February 2023
The declining media environment in the Balkans plays a key role in rising tensions between ethnic Serbs and the ethnic Albanian-led government in Kosovo.
To address escalating tensions, BFMI brought together experts from Kosovo and Serbia, as well as international civil society organisations, to share insights and define networks for collaboration.
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March 2022
Amid growing authoritarianism and ethnic tension in the region, BFMI explores how social media channels- in particular those of Meta, the parent company of Facebook- have been used to spread disinformation and consolidate the grip on power of authoritarian leaders in Serbia and the semi-autonomous region of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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October 2021
In this first report, BFMI examines political manipulation of media markets in Bulgaria, Serbia and North Macedonia. The report 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.