PORAZ GRAĐANSKE CRNE GORE

PORAZ GRAĐANSKE CRNE GORE

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Analiza istorijskog konteksta i aktuelnih događaja povodom ustoličenja mitropolita MCP Joanikija na Cetinju

INTERVJU: Dr Savo KENTERA, predsjednik Atlantskog

saveza Crne Gore

POLICIJSKO-MEDIJSKOUSTOLIČENJE

POLICIJSKO-MEDIJSKOUSTOLIČENJE

DFCMAGAZIND I G I T A L N I F O R E N Z I Č K I C E N T A R

Br. 35 | avgust/septembar 2021.

SADRŽAJ

Naslovna fotografijaILUSTRACIJA

DFC Magazin br. 35avgust/septembar 2021.Izdaje i štampa:Atlantski savez Crne GoreUređuje:Redakcija

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ISSN 2661-2607 = DFC magazinCOBISS.CG-ID 37902608

Ovaj projekat finansira dijelom američki Stejt dipartment. Mišljenja, nalazi, zaključci ili preporuke koji su ovdje izneseni su stav autora i ne odražavaju nužno stav Vlade SAD.

Analiza istorijskog konteksta i aktuelnih događaja povodom ustoličenja mitropolita MCP Joanikija na Cetinju Policijsko-medijsko ustoličenje . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Razgovor sa povodom: Dr Savo KENTERA, predsjednik Atlantskog saveza Crne Gore Poraz građanske Crne Gore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Povlačenje američkih trupa iz Avganistana na dramatičan način ogolilo neuspjeh dvodecenijske izgradnje i jačanja demokratskih institucija Talibani - u kontradikciji riječi i djela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Fejsbuk nije uspio da spriječi političare i svjetske lidere da koriste platformu kako bi obmanjivali publiku i maltretirali političke protivnike, kaže Sofi Zang, bivša analitičarka te kompanije Ne krivimo ruske trolove za američki problem sa antivakserima . . . . . 18

Čuvenu parolu no pasaran (neće proći) koristili su prvi put Francuzi, a potom, za vrijeme građanskog rata, španski komu-nisti. U međuvremenu, parola je postala simbol i glavni slogan lijevo orijentisanih političkih grupacija. No pasaran je ujedno bila i moja asocijacija i misao na najavljeni događaj ustoliče-nja mitropolita Joanikija na Cetinju, vjerujući da će i država i crkva imati sluha da čuju Cetinjane da nisu dobrodošli da u prijestonici hirotonišu sveštenika Srpske pravoslavne crkve. Ipak, prošli su nakon dvodnevnih nemilih scena između po-licije naoružane do zuba i protestanata na barikadama. Čin ustoličenja se, kako-tako, desio, s tim da na sreću, osim lak-ših povreda usljed ispaljenih suzavaca, gumenih metaka i ka-menica, nije bilo tragičnih posljedica. O događajima koji su, pored domaće, zabrinuli i svjetsku javnost, sud će dati vrije-me. Ono što je sigurno, to je da pobjednika nema, jer se su-protno volji Cetinjana ustoličenje ipak desilo, ali se i suprotno planu Crkve ono obavilo u prisustvu šačice sveštenstva i ja-kih policijskih snaga. Epilog bi ukratko glasio - niko sretan, niko zadovoljan, ali će ova tema još dugo služiti i poziciji i opoziciji za politička nad-gornjavanja. Sa takvim prioritetima, upitno je možemo li se na-dati da će se Vlada, u uslovima razgoropađene korona pande-mije, konačno okrenuti poslovima od kojih se bolje živi, a da će crkvena pitanja prestati biti dnevno-politička tema. Ono što je izvjesno poslije mučnih scena proteklog vikenda, je da osje-ćaj duhovne agresije nad Cetinjanima sigurno neće doprinijeti skorijem POMIRENJU!

POMIRENJE

Ustoličenje mitropolita crnogor-sko-primorskog Srpske pravo-slavne crkve (SPC), Joanikija Mićovića na Cetinju, 5. septem-bra, obnovilo je atavizme me-đusobnih istorijskih trvenja dva

suprotstavljena koncepta i narati-va – zelenaša i bjelaša, partizana i četnika, suverenista i unitarista, produbljujući ambijent egzistenci-jalne krize i posrnuća crnogorskog društva. Tako uobličena atmosfera

prijatelj-neprijatelj pokazala je krh-kost građanskog karaktera crno-gorskog društva pod stegama narastajućeg klerikalizma. Breme podijeljenih tumačenja prošlosti i viđenja budućnosti nerijetko oivi-čenih dogmama kamen je spotica-nja u svim ozbiljnijim nastojanjima za uspostavljanje kulture društve-nog dijaloga.U takvom istorijskom kontekstu validno je posmatrati i insistiranje da se u specifičnom društvenom trenutku ustoličenje novog Mitro-polita po svaku cijenu održi u Ce-tinjskom manastiru, što je dobar dio crnogorske javnosti doživio kao manifestaciju kulturno-politič-ke agresije i moći zvaničnog Beo-grada, te priliku da se pokaže da je Crna Gora dio srpskog sveta, dok drugi, lojalni toj vjerskoj zajednici (SPC) ne vide ništa sporno u ta-kvom činu. Uprkos procjeni obavještaj-no-bezbjednosnog sektora da se nikome ne može garantovati bez-bjednost na Cetinju i disonantnim

Analiza istorijskog konteksta i aktuelnih događaja povodom ustoličenja mitropolita MCP Joanikija na Cetinju

Uprkos procjeni obavještajno-bezbjednosnog sektora da se nikome ne može garantovati bezbjednost na Cetinju i disonantnim tonovima u Vladi, mitropolit Joanikije i patrijarh srpski Porfirije na Cetinje su došli helikopterom u pratnji specijalne policijske jedinice, dok su istodobno policijske snage u samom središtu crnogorske prijestonice razbijali barikade i prosvijede koristeći se suzavcem i šok bombama

POLICIJSKO-MEDIJSKOUSTOLIČENJE

Izvor: Rojters

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tonovima u Vladi, mitropolit Joa-nikije i patrijarh srpski Porfirije na Cetinje su došli helikopterom i u pratnji specijalne policijske jedini-ce, dok su istovremeno policijske snage u samom središtu crnogor-ske prijestonice razbijali barikade i proteste koristeći se suzavcem i šok bombama. Nakon kratke ce-remonije, na isti način su se vratili u Podgoricu.

ODVAJANJE CRKVE OD DRŽAVEU dugom trajanju države i crkve, crkvena praksa nalagala je da se Mitropolit bira i stoluje na Cetinju kao državnom i duhovnom sredi-štu Crne Gore, čija je okosnica bila Cetinjska mitropolija. Uloga Crkve do njenog formalnog razdvajanja od državne vlasti 1852. godine bila je odlučujuća u gotovo svim društvenim sferama – obrazova-nju, prvim formama neposred-ne demokratije i političkog života, a posebna je njena uloga u više-vjekovnoj odbrani Crne Gore od osvajača. Cetinjski manastir bio je sjedište najvažnijih državnih insti-tucija, mjesto okupljanja i odvija-nja najznačajnijih događaja. Rezo-novanje suštinskog i simboličkog značaja Crkve danas je, međutim, predmet politizacije i jasna linija po kojoj se podvaja Crna Gora. Osporavanje crnogorskog identi-teta u nastupima zvaničnika Srp-ske pravoslavne crkve i ugrađiva-nje religijskog u prostor političkog

(naročito u kontekstu uloge SPC u izbornim i postizbornim proce-sima tokom 2020. i 2021. godine) rezultiralo je naglašenom društve-nom polarizacijom i problematizo-vanjem mjesta ustoličenja imajući u vidu državotvorni značaj Prije-stonice. Tome nesumnjivo dopri-nosi i odnos državne vlasti koja ne samo da nije uspjela da svoje in-stitucije zaštiti od crkvenog utica-ja, već je nastala kao njegov direk-tni produkt.

PRO ET CONTRA USTOLIČENJAPored uzburkane domaće scene raspolućene u dva tabora, ustoliče-nje mitropolita crnogorsko-primor-skog Joanikija potaklo je i reakci-je aktera iz regiona i međunarodne

zajednice. Stajući u odbranu svo-ga uzdržanog stava, predsjednik Srbije, Aleksandar Vučić, najpri-je je podsjetio da je njegov posao da vodi računa o interesima svo-ga naroda.Srpski predsjednik se oglasio ne-posredno nakon nasilne introniza-cije u Cetinjskom manastiru, poz-dravljajući ulogu koju su u tom činu imali Vlada Crne Gore i njena ope-rativna tijela, kao i srpska Bezbjed-nosno-informativna agencija. Tom prilikom smo od njega saznali i da je postojala namjera crnogorske vlasti da se ustoličenje odloži, ali da je takva odluka promijenjena u toku noći. Informaciju o odlaganju ustoličenja prenijeli su i mediji koji se u informativnom prostoru pozi-cioniraju kao prorežimski u Srbi-ji. Sa druge strane, iz Vlade Crne

Grafici sa brojem objava i interakcija na portalima i blogovima, kao i na Fejsbuku i Tviteru

Izvor: Al Džazira

StatistikaDa je pitanje ustoličenja goruća tema u onlajn svije-tu pokazuju i precizne broj-ke. U periodu od 1. do 7. septembra, na Fejsbuku je bilo 11.244 objava koje su proizvele nevjerovat-nih 1.674.030 interakcija. U istom periodu, na Tviteru je bilo 43.600 objava, dok se tema Cetinja u medijima pojavila u 17.100 objava.

DFC Magazin | 5

Gore stigla su uvjeravanja da nije razmatrano pitanje odlaganja obre-da na Cetinju, što otvara prostor za sumnju u istinitost navoda iz pre-mijerovog Kabineta, ali i postavlja-nje legitimnog pitanja da li se o (ne)održavanju ustoličenja odlučivalo u Crnoj Gori.Sa nešto manje uzdržanosti su se oglašavali i ostali srpski zvanič-nici, među kojima su predsjednik Skupštine Srbije Ivica Dačić i mi-nistar unutrašnjih poslova i perja-nik srpskog sveta Aleksandar Vulin, koji su se saglasili da u Crnoj Gori postoje snage koje više decenija rade na stvaranju podjela između srpskog i crnogorskog naroda. Za njih Đukanovićev poziv za premje-štanje ustoličenja nema veze sa Crkvom, već isključivo sa njegovim interesima da se održi na vlasti na-kon što je osjetio da mu određena opasnost prijeti od Srbije i Srpske pravoslavne crkve.

I SRPSKA MEDIJSKA MAŠINERIJA U SLUŽBI SPC I REŽIMA Stavove zvaničnog Beograda, koji se deklarativno zalaže za dobre odnose sa Crnom Gorom, iako otvoreno kreira tenzije, potpoma-žu i mediji koji su pod kontrolom Vlade Srbije. Ako je suditi po srbi-janskim medijima, Cetinje je cen-tar crnogorskog separatizma, i antisrpskih ideologija. Osim plasi-ranja dezinformacija, beogradski tabloidi su često insinuirali gra-đanski rat i prolivanje krvi. Nakon narativa o pozivanju na krv i nerede na Cetinju, te onih o rat-nom stanju i linčovanju Srba, srp-ski prorežimski tabloidi su odmah po ustoličenju počeli da pronose i vijesti o neuspjelom puču na Ceti-nju, praćene riječima hvale za pot-predsjednika Vlade Abazovića koji je prema njihovim navodima spa-sio cijelu stvar.Iako je Agencija za elektronske medije (AEM) u februaru prošle

godine ograničila emitovanje pro-grama srbijanskih televizija zbog promovisanja mržnje, netrpeljivo-sti i diskriminacije, to nije učinila sada uprkos tome što su u konti-unitetu slale zapaljive poruke uoči 5. septembra i na dan ustoličenja.Ipak, Savjet Agencije za elektron-ske medije radi na detaljnoj i po-drobnoj analizi spornih sadržaja koje ovih dana plasira TV Happy i o ograničenju sadržaja će rasprav-ljati na jednoj od narednih sjedni-ca, najavio je predsjednik Savje-ta Agencije za elektronske medije Branko Bošković.Da narativi sa uznemirujućim sa-držajem koji poziva na krv nijesu ograničeni samo na naslovnice srpskih tabloida govori i činjeni-ca da je 30. avgusta na TV Happy

emitovana emisija Ćirilica autora i voditelja Milomira Marića na temu Da li će pasti krv u Crnoj Gori? Me-diji koji brutalno diskredituju poli-tičke neistomišljenike u cilju pod-sticanja sukoba, a promovišući i šireći govor mržnje mobilišu mase, mogu biti pogubni za sve koji se nađu upleteni u njihovu medijsku manipulaciju.

GOVOR MRŽNJE I NA INTERNETUU međuvremenu, i na društvenim mrežama se vodila borba nepre-stana između dva tabora, jednog koji kliče da je vakat za Svenarod-ni crnogorski zbor i drugog koji sa nestrpljenjem očekuje ustoliče-nje mitropolita Joanikija na Ceti-nju. Međutim, da je ta borba već odavno izašla iz normativnog okvi-ra o slobodi izražavanja na inter-netu svjedoči nedavno hapšenje lica koje je na društvenim mreža-ma prijetilo klanjem i ubijanjem na Cetinju, ali i sve učestalije prijetnje da će Cetinje biti nova Srebrenica. I ovo razdoblje tenzija iznjedrilo je kontinuirane prijetnje, lažne vijesti i dezinformacije o ustoličenju, poput one o najavljenom koncertu Ja-dranke Barjaktarović i Marka Per-kovića Tompsona na skupu protiv-nika ustoličenja, koji nikada nije bio

Stavove zvaničnog Beograda, koji se deklarativno zalaže za dobre odnose sa Crnom Gorom, iako otvoreno kreira tenzije, potpomažu i mediji koji su pod kontrolom Vlade Srbije

Insert iz emisije Ćirilica na TV Happy

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planiran. Slična manipulacija desi-la se 29. avgusta kada je nepozna-ti počinilac zloupotrijebio RTV Ce-tinje i lažnom objavom u kojoj se pruža podrška ustoličenju mitropo-lita Joanikija pokušao da diskredi-tuje taj medij.

MANIPULISANJE LAŽNIM VIJESTIMA I DEZINFORMACIJAMA Vlada Crne Gore, uprkos sopstve-nom priznanju da se nikome ne može garantovati bezbjednost, nije odustala od ustoličenja na Ce-tinju. Ta odluka je naišla na kritike u domaćoj, ali i široj javnosti. Zbog toga je medijski koncern Vi-jesti pokušao da opravda odluku Vlade prenošenjem istraživanja Nove srpske političke misli (NSPM) o navodnoj podršci od 54,2% gra-đana Crne Gore ustoličenju mitro-polita Joanikija na Cetinju.Istraživanja te institucije su upitna jer se njen predsjednik Đorđe Vu-kadinović, deklarisani srpski naci-onalista, rusofil i protivnik crnogor-ske nezavisnosti, 2015. ogradio od istraživanja sopstvene organizaci-je o društveno-političkoj situaci-ji u Crnoj Gori. Vukadinović nije bio upućen u metodologiju istra-živanja, a priznao je da je zamo-ljen da ga samo predstavi javnosti, iako nije saopštio od koga. Član je tzv. Odbora za odbranu lidera DF-a Andrije Mandića i Milana Kneževi-ća i ostalih lica koja su optuženi za pokušaj prevrata iz 2016. godine. U sastavu Odbora se nalaze i drugi

negatori Crne Gore i crnogorskog identiteta kao što su Čedomir An-tić i Aleksandar Raković. Objav-ljivanje neprovjerenih istraživanja poput tog, u situacijama kada već postoje tenzije, samo stvara do-datnu netrpeljivost i polarizaciju u našem društvu. Mediji u Crnoj Gori i Srbiji su pla-sirali dezinformacije o navodnoj represiji policije prema crnogor-skom, odnosno srpskom stanov-ništvu u zemlji. Plasirani narativ zavisio je od političke naklonjeno-sti medija. Procrnogorski mediji su pisali o represiji nad Crnogorcima, dok su srpski mediji pisali o repre-siji nad Srbima. To su bili klasični primjeri lažnih vijesti koji su teži-li da podignu tenzije i radikalizuju

građane i jedne i druge nacional-nosti. DFC je u saradnji sa Upra-vom policije uspješno demanto-vao takve navode.Niz crnogorskih medija objavio je lažnu vijest o konvojima autobusa sa građanima koji su se iz Beogra-da zaputili ka Podgorici da podr-že ustoličenje. Ipak, tog dana na crnogorskim granicama nije bilo konvoja autobusa niti većih gužvi koje bi podržale takve tvrdnje.

Već na samom početku protesta na Cetinju zabilježene su i koordi-nisane akcije prospskih i proruskih stranica na Fejsbuku. Koordinisa-no djelovanje i zapaljiva retorika na Fejsbuk stranicama iz Srbije rađe-na je po matrici koja je korišćena tokom lokalnih izbora u Nikšiću, gdje desetina stranica gotovo u isti minut objavljuju lažne i senzacio-nalističke vijesti o događajima na Cetinju. U toku dana zabilježeno je više koordinisanih akcija, a opa-snost od takvog djelovanja znatno je veća nego inače, imajući u vidu da ukupan broj ljudi koji prate ana-lizirane stranice prelazi 580.000.Takođe, tokom dana srpski tabloi-di su konstantno širili dezinforma-cije i lažne vijesti, uz senzacionali-stičko izvještavanje. Jedna od tih lažnih vijesti jeste da je Demokrat-ska partija socijalista (DPS) obla-čila mladiće u majice sa srpskim

Skrinšotovi sa portala Kodex.me, Večernje novosti i Informer

Skrinšotovi sa portala IN4S, Borba i Srbija danas

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obilježjem, da bi tog dana stvarali haos. Na Cetinju tog dana nije bilo mladića sa majicama sa srpskim simbolima.

KOKTEL KAO OKIDAČ ZA AKCIJU POLICIJEJedna od najopasnijih dezinforma-cija tokom protesta na Cetinju doš-la je od onih koji bi u takvim trenu-cima trebalo da daju najpreciznije informacije. Naime u 06:16h na portalu Vijesti obajvljeno je saop-štenje Kabineta predsjednika Vla-de Zdravka Krivokapića u kojem je rečeno da su demonstranti baci-li molotovljev koktel na pripadni-ke policije. Informacija koja je zasi-gurno zabrinula sve građane Crne Gore bila je lažna vijest. Da je riječ o lažnoj vijesti potvrdili su naši ljudi sa terena, novinari drugih medija, uključujući i novinarku Vijesti. Ona je saopštila da nije ni vidjela ni čula da se nešto tako dogodilo. Goto-vo svi mediji iz Srbije su preuzeli tu lažnu vijest i objavili je. Vrlo je indikativno da je ta vijest objavljena u trenutku kada je po-licija započela da sprovodi snaž-ne mjere protiv demonstranata. Očigledno je da su iz Kabineta Krivokapića htjeli da opravda-ju započetu intervenciju policije. I potpredsjednik Vlade Dritan Aba-zović je pokušao da opravda poli-cijsku intervenciju i to u udarnom

dnevniku TV Vijesti, pokazujući sliku demonstranta koji drži mo-lotovljev koktel. Međutim, sa slike se vrlo lako, bez posjedovanja vje-štine o digitalnoj forenzici, može utvrditi da se vrijeme njenog na-stanka ne poklapa sa vremenom kada je započeta policijska akcija.

Slika je nastala tri sata nakon in-tervencije policije i saopštenja iz Kabineta premijera. Sam premijer je, dan kasnije, na pres konferen-ciji kazao da ne zna kada je nasta-la fotografija koju posjeduju, a koja treba da posluži kao ključni dokaz za saopštenje njegovog Kabine-ta. Ako je u pitanju ista fotografija koju je objavio Abazović biće in-teresantno čuti kako će premijer

objasniti da je u trenutku objavlji-vanja saopštenja posjedovao sliku koja je nastala tri sata nakon nje-nog objavljivanja.

Vijestima je, 7. septembra, dostav-ljen snimak sigurnosnih kamera na kojem se vidi napad na policijske službenike eksplozivnom napra-vom koja liči na molotovljev koktel. Taj medij je pokušao da diskreditu-je DFC i time opravda sebe i pred-stavnike vlasti. Međutim, naš tim je promptno reagovao i analizom pomenutog snimka utvrdio da se, kao i u slučaju sa fotografijom, vri-jeme snimka ne poklapa sa vreme-nom kada je objavljeno saopštenje iz Kabineta Krivokapića, a kada je započeta policijska akcija.

Skrinšotovi sa portala Gradski.me i Antena M - istom fotografijom dezinformisana javnost

Insert iz intervjua potpredsjednika Vlade Dritana Abazovića datog TV Vijesti

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Uvidom u snimak koji je objavljen na portalu Vijesti u 20:44h smo ustanovili sljedeće:■ Navodni molotovljev koktel

koji je bio povod za otpoči-njanje policijske akcije tog ju-tra nikada nije bačen i njega nema na snimku koji su Vijesti objavile;

■ Analizom snimka vidi se da je sukob policije i demonstra-nata uveliko u toku, te da ba-canje molotovljevog kokte-la sa snimka nikako ne može biti dovedeno u vezu sa saop-štenjem iz Kabineta premije-ra objavljenom na portalu Vije-sti, na koje je DFC i reagovao. Snimak je nastao kada su ne-miri na Cetinju uveliko uze-li maha i bili gotovo pri kra-ju, odnosno u periodu između 9:15 i 9:30 časova;

■ Vrijeme kada je nastao snimak utvrđeno je na osnovu digital-nog zapisa sa sigurnosnih ka-mera, uporednim snimcima sa različitih kamera, ali i dodat-nom forenzikom objavljenog snimka;

■ Prve suzavce policija je prema protestantima ispalila na Dvor-skom trgu kada u ostalim uli-cama Cetinja nije bilo sukoba sa demonstrantima;

■ Pomenuti video nastao je u Dečanskoj ulici, koja je jedna od sporednih ulica na Cetinju i u kojoj su se sukobi policije

i demonstranata vodili nešto kasnije, što se vidi i na snimku koji su objavile Vijesti;

Nakon svega, nameće se logično pitanje zbog čega je jedna od naj-većih medijskih kuća u zemlji i re-gionu, u očiglednoj koordinaciji sa Vladom CG, pokušala da obmane javnost.

STRANI FAKTORMeđunarodna zajednica je svojim apelima u kontinuitetu pokušavala da smiri tenzije, ali se takav pristup nije pokazao kao efikasan. Tonino Picula, specijalni izvjestilac Evrop-skog parlamenta za Crnu Goru i Vladimir Bilčik, predsjedavajući Delegacije Evropskog parlamenta za saradnju sa Crnom Gorom ista-kli su nakon ustoličenja da politi-zacija vjere loše utiče na evropski

put Crne Gore, ali i da politička zloupotreba nečijih vjerskih uvje-renja nije kompatibilna s trenutnim reformskim procesom Crne Gore, čime su poslali jasnu poruku.

O involviranosti i aktivnostima Ru-sije u Crnoj Gori i na Cetinju najbo-lje govori izjava portparolke MVP Ruske Federacije Marije Zaharo-ve i protojereja Ruske pravoslav-ne crkve Igora Jakimčuka o vje-štačkom karakteru protesta koji se mogu povezati sa predsjedni-kom Crne Gore, što je identičan narativ koji šire mitropolit Joaniki-je i ostali proruski igrači u zemlji i regionu, čiji je krajnji cilj skretanje Crne Gore sa zapadnog kursa. Na Cetinju nije bilo uočljivog i otvo-renog miješanja Rusije, ali je bio prepoznatljiv njen rukopis i upo-treba svih instrumenata iz arsena-la ruske meke moći, posredstvom proksija u Crnoj Gori i regionu.

Dešavanja na Cetinju pokazala su da nijedna strana nije imala namjeru da uzmakne ni za pedalj, te da je pogoršanje situacije go-vorima mržnje, huškanjima, de-zinformacijima i lažnim vijestima prispjelim iz različitih propagand-nih kuhinja, išlo na teret organa jav-nog reda i mira. Proteklog vikenda smo bili svjedoci trenutaka u ko-jima lični interesi domaćih aktera prednjače nad opštim dobrom, a umjereni stavovi i razumno djelo-vanje nijesu poželjni zato što imaju prizvuk povlačenja.

Video objavljen na portalu Vijesti: Trenutak kada je na policiju bačen molotovljev kok-tel ne odgovara vremenu kada je izašlo saopštenje iz premijerovog Kabineta

Sinhronizovana retorika - skrinšotovi sa portala Vijesti i Dan

DFC Magazin | 9

Razgovor sa povodom: Dr Savo KENTERA, predsjednik Atlantskog saveza Crne Gore

PORAZ GRAĐANSKE CRNE GOREUstoličenje mitropolita Joanikija na Cetinju 5. septembra uzburkalo je duhove i dodatno polarizovalo crnogorsku političku scenu. U iščekivanju tog događaja, svjedočili smo međusobnim optužbama onih koji pozdravljaju ustoličenje i onih koji se protive tom činu na Cetinju

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DFC INTERVJU

Godina je dana od ustoličenja nove vlasti, a tenzije se nakon te krupne političke promjene ne smi-ruju. Štaviše, dodatno se raspiruju. Stiče se, čak, utisak da je gotovo svaka tema povod za destabiliza-ciju crnogorskog društva i javnosti.Najnoviji događaj – ustoličenje mi-tropolita Joanikija na Cetinju 5. septembra – uzburkao je duho-ve i dodatno polarizovao politič-ku scenu. U iščekivanju tog doga-đaja, svjedočili smo međusobnim optužbama onih koji pozdravlja-ju ustoličenje i onih koji se proti-ve tom činu na Cetinju. Najavljeni vjerski obred propraćen je medij-skom kampanjom i zapaljivom re-torikom i na društvenim mrežama. Kao odgovor na apel međunarod-noj zajednici da reaguje na aktu-elna dešavanja u Crnoj Gori, iz Ambasade SAD i Delegacije EU u Podgorici pozvali su na smirivanje tenzija. Predsjednik Atlantskog saveza Crne Gore (ASCG), dr Savo Kente-ra, u intervjuu za 35. broj DFC ma-gazina govori o aktuelnim prilikama dodatno podgrijanim ustoličenjem

mitropolita crnogorsko-primor-skog Joanikija na Cetinju i ulozi Srpske pravoslavne crkve (SPC) u političkom životu Crne Gore, kao i o najavljenom popisu stanovniš-tva. I dok se Crna Gora suočava sa tenzičnom situacijom i nasiljem na Cetinju, koje srećom nije eskalira-lo u ozbiljne sukobe sa tragičnim posljedicama, svjetskom scenom dominaraju dramatične slike iz Ka-bula usljed povlačenja američkih i NATO snaga iz Avganistana i dola-ska na vlast talibana. Kentera se sa zadovoljstvom osvr-nuo i na trogodišnji rad Digitalnog forenzičkog centra u borbi protiv

malignih uticaja. Kaže da na po-četku niko nije imao vjere da će DFC zaživjeti i da će uspjeti da ostvari svoju misiju i viziju u borbi protiv malignih prijetnji, kao i da će se DFC ubuduće isključivo fokusi-rati na suštinu problema koji sto-je iza dezinformacija i lažnih vijesti koje se plasiraju.

POKAZALA SE OPRAVDA-NOM ZABRINUTOST OD MOGUĆIH INCIDENATA

DFC: Šta su dvodnevni nemiri 4. i 5. septembra na Cetinju po Vama ogolili? Kako komentari-šete postupanje izvršne vlasti i slike i scene koje su izvjesno za-brinule sve građane Crne Gore, ali i međunarodnu zajednicu?

S. KENTERA: Sva dešavanja 5. septembra na Cetinju su pokaza-la i ogolila onu najmračniju, naj-goru stranu Crne Gore. Kada sam mislio da je Crna Gora već dota-kla dno dna u zadnjim mjesecima sa svime što se dešavalo, 5. sep-tembar je pokazao da to nije tač-

no i da smo 5. septembra, čini mi se, dotakli dno dna. Tada se po-kazalo koliko smo jadni i bijedni kao nacija, koliko smo podijelje-ni kao društvo, koliko nas je lako zavaditi i koliko nas je lako dove-sti do tačke pucanja sa koje mal-tene nema povratka. Na svu sreću i uz razum pojedinih ljudi sa jed-ne i sa druge strane, koji su smi-rivali tenzije do zadnjeg momenta tokom čitavog trajanja svega što se dešavalo 5. septembra, zahva-ljujući jednoj izuzetno profesional-noj reakciji policije nije došlo do najgoreg scenarija – do krvopro-lića. Da li je policija u određenim

momentima imala prekoračenje ili ne, time neka se bave oni koji su dužni time da se bave, vrijeme će pokazati. Generalno, u jednoj izu-zetno kompleksnoj situaciji na Ce-tinju 5. septembra, kada je politi-ka tražila od policije da sprovede u djelo maltene nemoguće, za što se znalo da može da eksplodira u svakom momentu, oni su se zaista pokazali na visini zadatka i dali u datim okolnostima maksimum. Sa druge strane ostaje veliko razoča-renje u politiku i političare koji su, prije svega, doveli do takvog sta-nja i koji su produbili još više po-djele koje su ionako bile prisutne u crnogorskom društvu, a sada su mnogo, mnogo veće.

PRIČA O POMIRENJU SAMO DEKLARATIVNA

Pobjednika ovdje nema. Nijedna strana ne može da slavi jer je to poraz Crne Gore. To je poraz jed-ne građanske, civilizovane Crne Gore. Biće potrebno zaista mno-go vremena da se Crna Gora opo-ravi od ovoga. Mislim da će 5. sep-tembar biti upisan crnim slovima u modernu istoriju Crne Gore, jer će vraćanje na pozitivnu nulu po-slije ovoga biti dugotrajan proces koji nimalo nije lak, koji će zahti-jevati odlučnost političkih aktera da krenu sa pomirenjem naroda i sa smirivanjem tenzija. Ono što je najgore, ja u ovom momentu na političkoj sceni Crne Gore ne vidim niti volju niti spremnost kod bilo koga da tome pristupi, da se time stvarno pozabavi, već je ta priča o pomirenju samo deklarativna, a sa druge strane se radi suprotno tome, što se vidjelo i na događaji-ma od 5. septembra. Da je neko u ovoj državi bio spre-man da radi na pomirenju i smi-rivanju tenzija, onda je događaje 5. septembra na Cetinju trebalo u potpunosti zabraniti – govorim i o protestima i o ustoličenju, bez ob-zira što bi se na taj način možda ušlo u zonu kršenja ljudskih pra-va ili vjerskih sloboda. To bi bila državnička odluka. Ta odluka bi pokazala da neko ko je državnik,

Kada sam mislio da je Crna Gora već dotakla

´dno dna´ zbog svega što se dešavalo

posljednjih mjeseci, 5. septembar je pokazao da to nije tačno i da smo 5. septembra, čini mi se, dotakli

´dno dna´

DFC Magazin | 11

koga nažalost u ovom momen-tu nismo imali, vodi računa, prije svega o državi Crnoj Gori i o svim njenim građanima. A ne donositi političke odluke i prebacivati svu odgovornost isključivo na policiju i gurati njih u vatru da se obračuna-vaju sa jednom i sa drugom stra-nom kako bi se na taj način priku-pili jeftini politički poeni. Bilo je evidentno da su obje strane jako naelektrisane, pune negativ-nog naboja. Imam osjećaj kao da su i jedna i druga strana – i procr-nogorska i prosrpska – jedva če-kale da se nešto desi da bi izbacili svo nezadovoljstvo koje se, čini mi se, taloži godinama. Pri tom, po-vod za evidentne frustracije nije sam taj čin, ali može biti povod za nešto što, šire gledano, može ima-ti nesagledive posljedice ne samo po Crnu Goru nego i po region. Posebno treba imati u vidu da se crnogorsko društvo još nije opora-vilo od podjela 1918. godine.

NESTABILNOST ODGOVARA RUSIJI

DFC: Kako tumačite uticaj zva-ničnog Beograda koji je preko svojih istomišljenika (DF) uveo Srpsku pravoslavnu crkvu u po-litički ring u Crnoj Gori kao dio strategije srpskog sveta?

S. KENTERA: Srpska pravoslav-na crkva, nažalost, nije uvedena od skoro u političku igru. SPC je u tu igru uvedena mnogo, mnogo ranije. Nažalost, SPC u Crnoj Gori koristi Srbija, i prvenstveno Rusi-ja, kao instrument za ostvarivanje njihove politike. U SPC ima izuzet-no dobrih, kvalitetnih ljudi, svešte-nika koji rade svoj posao i koji su posvećeni onome čime su odabra-li da se bave – a to je vjera i ni-šta drugo. Međutim, jedan veliki broj njih se ne bavi vjerom, to jest onim čime bi trebalo da se bavi, već se bavi isključivo politikom. To nije dobro za SPC dugoročno. To

nije dobro za bilo koju crkvu i zato i SPC i svaka druga crkva treba da se bave isključivo onime što im je primarni posao – propovijeda-njem vjere. I Srbija i Rusija moraju da shvate da korišćenje SPC kao njihovog instrumenta ne može do-prinijeti stabilnosti Crne Gore, ne može doprinijeti stabilnosti regio-na i da u tom smislu moraju pro-naći neki drugi instrument, a SPC ostaviti da se bavi onim što je njen primarni zadatak. Međutim, ako pogledamo da jedino Rusiji odgo-vara nestabilnost, onda je i razu-mljivo korišćenje SPC u ove svrhe.

DFC: S obzirom na poziciju na kojoj se nalazite i, očekivano, informacije kojima raspolažete, kako Vi vidite i objašnjavate pro-teklu godinu i krupne promjene na političkoj sceni Crne Gore, kao i dodatno zaoštravanje si-tuacije insistiranjem na ustoli-čenju mitropolita Joanikija na Cetinju i, u konačnici, realizaci-ju tog čina protiv volje dijela cr-nogorskih građana?

S. KENTERA: Nažalost, mogu konstatovati da nakon promjene vlasti prije godinu dana nije došlo

Vjerski čin poprimio političku dimenzijuSmatrao sam da je u najboljem interesu mira i pomirenja u Crnoj Gori bilo da mitropolit Joanikije ili patrijarh Porfirije saopšte javnosti da su odlučili da taj čin obave u Podgorici imajući u vidu komplek-snost političke i bezbjednosne situacije u zemlji. Tu odluku bi svi po-zdravili, a crkva bi ostvarila svoju ulogu koja joj istinski pripada, a ne da se dodatno produbljuju podjele i da se radi protiv interesa većin-skog dijela Crne Gore. Dakle, ovdje se ne radi, to moramo razlikovati, o samom činu hiro-tonisanja vladike Joanikija – da ono bude na Cetinju ili ne - jer je to definitivno par ekselans vjerski čin. Radi se o tome da je taj vjerski čin poprimio političku dimenziju i sada je isključivo političke prirode. Zbog svih pomenutih razloga je trebalo izabrati neku drugu lokaciju, bilo Podgorica ili neki drugi grad.

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DFC INTERVJU

do smirivanja tenzija u Crnoj Gori, štaviše, napetost i podjele u druš-tvu su, čini mi se, još izraženije. Kao posljedicu toga imamo ne-stabilnu zemlju koja je od regional-nog lidera za pridruživanje Evrop-skoj uniji, postala zemlja koja se danas, u 21. vijeku, bavi vjerskim pitanjima koja uopšte ne bi trebalo da budu na dnevnom redu. Primje-ra radi, mi danas nemamo defini-sane pregovarače za ključna po-glavlja za ulazak u EU, ne bavimo se ekonomskim pitanjima i buduć-nošću Crne Gore, nego raspravlja-mo da li će se ustoličenje obavi-ti na Cetinju ili negdje drugdje. Pri tome, ta tema je dovela do takvog razdora i, opravdane i ozbiljne za-brinutosti zbog postojanja veli-ke vjerovatnoće, što se pokalazlo tačnim, da će doći do incidenata.

AVGANISTANSKA KRIZA – PROLAZNA FAZA

DFC: Povlačenje američkih sna-ga iz Avganistana rezultiralo je neočekivano brzom akcijom ta-libana i preuzimanjem vlasti. Svjetska javnost je šokirana sli-kama haosa, panike i straha av-ganistanskog stanovništva od uspostave ekstremističke vla-sti i uvođenja šerijatskog zako-na. Ima li po Vama, u tim slika-ma i dešavanjima, sličnosti sa povlačenjem američkih vojnika iz Vijetnama?

S. KENTERA: Ne bih situaciju u Avganistanu upoređivao sa Vijet-namom, ali ono što moramo znati jeste da sve to šta se dešava u Av-ganistanu nije posljedica posljed-nje dvije, tri sedmice, kako medi-ji izvještavaju da je Avganistan, u stvari Kabul, pao za deset ili pet-naest dana u ruke talibana. Avga-nistan je izgubljen onog momen-ta kada je Trampova adminstracija sjela za sto sa Talibanima, a bez prisustva zvaničnih predstavni-ka vlasti i počela pregovore o po-vlačenju iz ove zemlje. Dogovor je podrazumijevao da se Amerikan-ci povuku kada se odredi povoljan

datum, dok su talibani garantovali da neće napadati američke i NATO trupe, te da neće sarađivati ili da-vati utočište Al Kaidi ili nekoj dru-goj terorističkoj organizaciji.

Treba imati u vidu da je američka obavještajna zajednica sve vrijeme upozoravala predsjednika Bajde-na o konsekvencama povlačenja američkih trupa u ovom momentu, do čega će doći i za koliko brzo će talibani preuzeti vlast. Kada ne slu-šate nekad obavještajnu zajednicu koja ima oči i uši na terenu onda mogu da se dese situacije koje se dešavaju sada u Avganistanu. S druge strane, ja razumijem potpu-no političku odluku. Vrijeme je bilo, jednostavno, da se savezničke tru-pe povuku iz Avganistana. Urađe-no je apsolutno sve da se prene-se znanje avganistanskoj vojsci i njihovim snagama bezbjednosti u smislu treninga i svega onoga što je neophodno kako bi jednog dana preuzeli punu kontolu nad zemljom. Nije bilo realno očeki-vati da će američki vojnici i NATO

snage ostati u Avganistanu vječno i bilo je sasvim izvjesno da u jed-nom momentu mora doći do po-vlačenja. Ali ako vi u svojoj zemlji ne radite dovoljno ili ne radite ni-šta da sačuvate tu zemlju, a zna-te da vam prijeti opasnost od tali-bana, onda ne možete ni očekivati da vas vječito neko drugi brani od neprijatelja i da vječito neko drugi bude tu za vas. Morate u jednom momentu preuzeti odgovornost i boriti se za svoju zemlju.

DFC: Da li dijelite mišljenje ili ste suprotstavljeni stajalištu po-jedinih analitičara da su bilioni američkih dolara uzalud potro-šeni da se izgradi stabilno avga-nistansko društvo?

S. KENTERA: Ne vjerujem uopšte u to da su uzalud potrošene mili-jarde dolara i vjerujem da se sve ono što je uloženo u Avganistan najbolje oslikava kroz avganistan-ski narod koji u ogromnom broju danas bježi iz Avganistana zato što ne želi da bude pod vlašću

Popis da, ali iz pravih razlogaDFC: I pitanje popisa stanov-ništva podijelilo je ionako ne-funkcionalnu parlamentarnu većinu. Pritisci DF-a prema Vladi da se popis održi ove godine, te da je etničko pi-tanje nezaobilazna stavka, podržani su aktivnom kam-panjom srbijanskih vlasti. Iz Eurostata, međutim, kažu da zakonodavstvo EU o popisu stanovništva ne uključuje et-ničku pripadnost, jer to pita-nje može biti osjetljivo u mno-gim zemljama. Da li je Crna Gora, bremenita zaista kru-pnim problemima, nakon go-dinu dana uzavrele atmosfere stigla do tačke ključanja?

S. KENTERA: Popis je svakako vrlo osjetljivo pitanje, posebno u Crnoj Gori i posebno u svim zemljama Balkana. Taj popis je

u velikoj mjeri doprinio mnogim podjelama koje postoje u drža-vama zapadnog Balkana. Insi-stirati danas na tim osjetljivim pitanjima, koja evropsko zako-nodavstvo ne poznaje, je opa-sno. Pitati za nacionalnost ili vjersku pripadnost stanovni-ke Švedske, Norveške, Danske ili Velike Britanije je nepojmlji-vo, niti bi razumjeli zašto ih to pitate. Popis treba da se obavi, ali iz pravih razloga, da se, pri-je svega, sagleda demografska struktura stanovništva u odnosu na pokazatelje koji su bitni sa ekonomskog stajališta, da po-pis iskoristimo za unapređenje stanja u zemlji na raznim nivo-ima. Definitivno, pitanja etnič-ke, vjerske i nacionalne pripad-nosti treba isključiti iz popisa da se ne bi produbljivale podjele u Crnoj Gori.

DFC Magazin | 13

talibana, jer ne želi da se vraća u period kada su talibani bili na vla-sti, nakon progresa koji je ostva-ren u Avganistanu, nakon svega što je urađeno po pitanju obrazo-vanja, ekonomije, ljudskih prava i svih drugih segmenata društva u toj zemlji. Međutim, vjerujem da je današnja slika Avganistana jedna prolazna faza. Vjerujem da će se, uz podršku zapadnih partnera, pri-je svega SAD i NATO, pronaći na-čin kako da se pomogne da Avga-nistan ponovo bude zemlja u kojoj ima nade za život i gdje će ljudi moći da se vrate iz izbjeglištva.

PONOSAN NA LJUDE KOJI RADE U DFC

DFC: Digitalni forenzički cen-tar, kao projekat Atlantskog sa-veza Crne Gore, već tri godi-ne aktivno radi na istraživanju i razotkrivanju dezinformacija i analizama kampanja i stranog miješanja u unutrašnja pitanja Crne Gore. Kako ocjenjujete rad DFC-a u borbi protiv tih fenome-na i malignog uticaja?

S. KENTERA: Danas, nakon tri godine, mogu reći da sam zaista ponosan na ljude koji rade u DFC, kao i na rezultate koje su postigli, a koje su ostvarili u nevjerovatnim uslovima nezapamćene kampanje koja je vođena prema Crnoj Gori od strane Rusije i od strane Srbi-je. Imali su mnogo primjera na ko-jima su u praksi mogli učiti i gdje su zajedno, sa svim tim procesima i sazrijevali i sticali nova iskustva o tome kako se boriti protiv takvog štetnog uticaja koji dolazi od stra-ne trećih zemalja i kako mu sta-ti na kraj. Ključna stvar koju smo, čini mi se, svi mi naučili je da se protiv laži, protiv dezinformacija ne možemo boriti na isti način − da i mi plasiramo dezinformacije i laži. Naše opredjeljenje, te jedini put i najkvalitetniji način od početka je bio da se istinom borimo protiv

laži. Istina je ono za šta smo se za-lagali, istina je ono što protekle tri godine plasiramo javnosti i to će biti okosnica našeg rada.

FOKUSIRAĆEMO SE NA POZADINU DEZINFORMACIJA

Želim naglasiti da se ni u budu-ćem periodu nećemo rukovoditi, kao što ni do sada nismo, kvan-titetom dezinformacija koje otkri-vamo na dnevnom, mjesečnom ili godišnjem nivou. Nećemo se ba-viti temama koje ne zavrjeđuju pa-žnju sa aspekta kvaliteta života u Crnoj Gori, mislim na neke pot-puno sporadične stvari. Fokusira-ćemo se na suštinu problema, na ono što je pozadina dezinforma-cija i lažnih vijesti koje se plasira-ju. Cilj će nam biti da razotkrije-mo ko stoji iza njih, zbog čega se te stvari rade, da otkrijemo modus operandi, da otkrijemo izvršioce i kompletnu mrežu koja je uvezana i koja pokušava da diskredituje i uništi demokratske sisteme. Crna Gora može biti primjer svima u svi-jetu šta Rusija može da uradi kada

se vodi dobro osmišljena kampa-nja dezinformisanja, i ne samo dezinformisanja, već raznih dru-gih štetnih uticaja koji se ogleda-ju kroz političke partije i nevladine organizacije, medije, sistem obra-zovanja, itd.

Želimo pokazati šta sve Rusija može uraditi bilo kojoj zemlji na svijetu, čak članici NATO, kako bi se u očima šire javnosti predstavi-lo, što je njima krajnji cilj, da jed-na stabilna država kao što je Crna Gora, članica NATO saveza, može u momentu da sklizne u haos i ne-stabilnost. Na taj način Rusija želi da prikaže da NATO i demokratija nisu prave vrijednosti, te da nijed-na zemlja ne bi trebalo da im teži.

Naše opredjeljenje, te jedini put i najkvalitetniji način od početka je bio da se istinom borimo protiv laži

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Kada je bivši predsjednik Sjedinje-nih Američkih Država (SAD) Donald Tramp, u februaru 2020. godine, potpisao sporazum sa talibanima o povlačenju američke vojske iz Avganistana, sve članice NATO su imale prilično pozitivan stav o tom

sporazumu. Prema dogovoru, tru-pe SAD je trebalo da napuste Av-ganistan u roku od 14 mjeseci, a talibani su pristali da spriječe da Avganistan postane utočište za teroriste, kao i da započnu mirov-ne pregovore sa avganistanskom

vladom. To je bila prilika za okon-čanje višedecenijskog rata koji je odnio nebrojene živote i na koji su utrošene ogromne svote novca.

Dramatična dešavanja u Avga-nistanu, kojima smo posljednjih mjesec i po dana svjedočili, poka-zala su visok stepen naivnosti lide-ra NATO zemalja, prije svega zbog neutemeljnog optimizma da Avga-nistan može samostalno da nasta-vi sa demokratizacijom društva. Ohrabreni povlačenjem američ-kih i drugih međunarodnih snaga, talibani su već u junu kontrolisali

Povlačenje američkih trupa iz Avganistana na dramatičan način ogolilo neuspjeh dvodecenijske izgradnje i jačanja demokratskih institucija

Dramatična dešavanja u Avganistanu, kojima smo posljednjih mjesec i po dana svjedočili, pokazala su visok stepen naivnosti lidera NATO zemalja, prije svega zbog neutemeljnog optimizma da Avganistan može samostalno da nastavi sa demokratizacijom društva

TALIBANI - U KONTRADIKCIJI RIJEČI I DJELA

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veliki dio zemlje. Nakon 6. avgu-sta, njihov napredak dobio je novi zamah. Oni su za samo deset dana premrežili Avganistan i preu-zeli kontrolu nad gradovima širom zemlje. Talibanski borci zauzeli su prvu prijestonicu jedne provinci-je 6. avgusta i do 15. avgusta su već bili pred vratima Kabula. Upr-kos 20 godina dugoj spoljnoj po-dršci, milijardama dolara finansi-ranja, opsežnom programu obuke i vazdušnoj podršci SAD, avgani-stanske bezbjednosne snage nije-su pružile konkretan otpor.

STRAH I HAOS NOVO LICE AVGANISTANAPreuzimanje vlasti od strane ta-libana natjerao je desetine hilja-da ljudi da napuste svoje domo-ve. Mnogi su stigli u prijestonicu Avganistana, a drugi su krenuli ka susjednim zemljama. U Kabulu je nastao haos pošto je predsjednik Ašraf Gani pobjegao iz zemlje, a hiljade njegovih sunarodnika po-kušavaju da učine isto. Do 15. av-gusta u Kabul je stiglo 17.600 lju-di koji su bježali od talibana, kažu podaci Kancelarije UN za koordi-naciju humanitarnih pitanja. Haos na avganistanskim aerodromi-ma, i generalno u zemlji, iskori-stila je Islamska država izvršivši

teroristički napad na aerodrom u Kabulu. U napadu je poginulo više od 110 ljudi, a ranjeno preko 180. I dok se očajni Avganistanci kače na avione pri polijetanju, u nadi da će ih odvesti na sigurno, pojedi-ne evropske zemlje podižu zido-ve na granicama pripremajući se za novu izbjegličku krizu. Istovre-meno postavlja se pitanje kako će Avganistan izgledati pod talibani-ma koji su se na vlast vratili posli-je tačno 20 godina. Iako nova vla-davina talibana pokreće mnoštvo pitanja na svim poljima i u svim oblastima, dva se izdvajaju kao dominantna jer su i ranije bila naj- ekstremnija u rješenjima. Ona se tiču prava žena, medijskih slobo-da i pristupa internetu koja su to-kom njihove prethodne vladavine bila ugrožena.

NEIZVJESNA SUDBINA NEZAVISNIH MEDIJATokom vladavine talibana ‘90-ih godina prošlog vijeka nezavisni mediji nisu postojali. Upotreba te-levizije, za one koji su to mogli sebi priuštiti, bila je ograničena. To zna-či da su imali pristup onim sadr-žajima koje su odobrili talibani koji su u potpunosti kontrolisali pro-tok informacija na osnovu strogog tumačenja šerijatskog zakona.

Informativne emisije su bile dostu-pne samo na kanalima pod kon-trolom talibana. Nakon što je talibanski režim sru-šen 2001. godine, široki pristup di-gitalnim telekomunikacionim us- lugama postao je stvarnost u Av-ganistanu, donoseći sa sobom značajne društvene promjene. Mi-lioni Avganistanaca danas imaju pristup različitim medijima, a upo-treba elektronskih uređaja omo-gućila im je pristup informacija-ma i uključivanje u socio-politički diskurs.Povratak talibana na vlast izazvao je opravdanu bojazan da će doći do ugrožavanja medijskih slobo-da. U 2016. godini talibani su bombaškim napadom targetira-li TV Tolo, najveću medijsku kuću u zemlji, koji dobija finansijsku po-dršku USAID-a. Posebno su upla-šeni novinari koji rade u medijskim kućama koje sarađuju sa zapad-nim zemljama. Američki Komitet za zaštitu novinara primio je od lju-di iz Avganistana 5.000 zahtjeva za pomoć. Međutim, talibani su vrlo svjesni promjena u avgnistanskom druš-tvu u proteklih dvadest godina. To su pokazali na pres konferenciji koju su održali nakon preuzimanja vlasti. Na konferenciji za novinare 17. avgusta, Zabihula Mudžahid, portparol grupe, dao je uvjerenja medijima, rekavši: Privatni mediji mogu i dalje biti slobodni i neza-visni, oni mogu nastaviti svoje ak-tivnosti... Nepristrasnost medija je veoma važna. Oni mogu kritikovati naš rad kako bismo se poboljšali. Takođe su dali intervju ženi, novi-narki sa Tolo TV. Talibani su svjesni da ne mogu odjednom samo da spuste zavje-su preko društva koje je već ite-kako naviklo na određeni stepen medijskih sloboda, kao i da bi ta-kav postupak izazvao nezadovolj-stvo, posebno mladih ljudi. Zato oni pokušavaju da se predsta-ve javnosti u pozitivnom svjetlu, jer im je za ostanak na vlasti ite-

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kako neophodna podrška naroda. Međutim, već je zabilježen napad na novinara Tolo TV. Ziar Kan Jad napadnut je i oduzet mu je tele-fon i snimak koji je napravljen za reportažu o ekonomskoj situaciji u zemlji. Stoga je za očekivati da će, kako talibani budu učvršćiva-li svoju vlast nad Avganistanom, njihova kontrola nad medijma biti sve veća.

DRUŠTVENE MREŽE – NOVO ORUŽJE TALIBANAProšlo je više od deceniju od po-četka procesa demokratizacije u Avganistanu. Jedan od rezulta-ta tog procesa bilo je uspostav-ljanje društvenih medija, što utiče na svakodnevni život pojedinaca u toj zemlji. Društvene mreže su odi-grale važnu ulogu u razvoju Avga-nistana u demokratičnije društvo.Period masovnog korišćenja druš-tvenih mreža upravo je došao na-kon odlaska talibana sa vlasti. Tokom 90-ih talibani su zabrani-li internet. Međutim, dvije deceni-je kasnije, talibani su vrlo vješti u korišćenju savremenih komunika-cionih tehnologija, društvenih mre-ža i aplikacija za pametne telefo-ne, kako bi osvojili avganistanska srca i umove kroz snažnu propa-gandnu kampanju.Tvitovanje fotografija sa frontova, objavljivanje video zapisa o napa-dima na Fejsbuku i izjave i gledi-šta njihovih lidera sada su central-ni u talibanskoj vojnoj i političkoj strategiji. Njen cilj je da utiče na javno mnjenje, promijeni njegovu percepciju i okrene društvo ka ta-libanima. Oni takođe koriste druš-tvene mreže i kao sredstvo za re-grutaciju, ali ih efikasno koriste i za identifikaciju i neutralisanje protivnika. Talibani su pretvorili društvene mreže u moćno oružje za ukroći-vanje opozicije i emitovanje njiho-vih poruka. Sada čvrsto kontroli-šu državu i koriste hiljade naloga na Tviteru (zvaničnih i anonimnih) kako bi umirili užasnutu avgani-stansku gradsku bazu, koja je i na-jaktivnija na društvenim mrežama.

Slike mira i stabilnosti koje objav-ljuju talibani su u direktnoj suprot-nosti sa haotičnim scenama ame-ričke evakuacije sa aerodroma u Kabulu ili snimcima premlaćivanja i pucanja na demonstrante. Ne-dostatak digitalne i medijske pi-smenosti u avganistanskom druš-tvu će omogućiti talibanima da uz pomoć društvenih mreža vladaju zemljom i pored zastupanja fun-damentalističkih vjerskih načela i nasilnih sklonosti.

TEHNOLOŠKI GIGANTI ĆUTEDodatnu povoljnost novoj vlasti u Avganistanu predstavlja i neade-kvatno i neravnomjerno postupa-nje tehnoloških giganata po pitanju nasilnog i manipulativnog sadržaja koji plasiraju talibani. Globalni in-ternet forum protiv terorizma je in-dustrijska grupa koju su pokrenuli

Fejsbuk, Jutjub, Tviter i Majkrosoft kako bi spriječili teroriste i nasilne ekstremiste u eksploataciji digital-nih platformi. Ipak, oni nisu zau-zeli stav da li će dozvoliti talibani-ma da preuzmu zvanične naloge avganistanske vlade ili će dozvoli-ti verifikaciju talibanskih naloga na društvenim mrežama, kao ni kako će postupati sa komunikacijama novog režima, posebno na en-kriptovanim platformama kao što je Vocap.

Politika vodećih društvenih mreža prema nalozima talibana i sadrža-jima koji se plasiraju sa tih nalo-ga i dalje je nedosljedna. Fejsbuk je zabranio talibane, ali to se nije zadržalo na svim njegovim plat-formama. Jutjub, koji je u vlasniš-tvu Gugla, je takođe rekao da će ukinuti naloge avganistanskih tali-bana. Međutim, Tviter se nije oba-vezao da će ih blokirati, navode-ći samo da će preduzeti mjere u vezi sa postovima koji krše pravi-la platforme.

Sve to nam govori da su talibani i te kako spremni da se mijenja-ju, da ne zaostaju, da usvoje sve tehnološke inovacije, da prizna-ju dostignića zapadne demokra-tije poput medijskih sloboda, kao i ostale domete razvijenog svijeta iako ga ne smatraju prijateljskim, jer će tako moći manipulisati i po-drivati ta dostignuća i slobode. Ne tješi činjenica da nijesu ni prvi ni posljednji koji su to činili ili čine.

Prema dogovoru, trupe SAD je trebalo da napuste Avganistan u roku od 14 mjeseci, a talibani su pristali da spriječe da Avganistan postane utočište za teroriste i da započnu mirovne pregovore sa avganistanskom vladom

Izvor: Boell.de

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Njemački jutjuber Mirko Dročman objavio je 18. maja 2021. godine neobičan tvit: jedna marketinš-ka agencija tražila je od njega da podijeli navodno procurjele do-kumente o smrtnim slučajevima

izazvanim vakcinom protiv koro-na virusa. Nedjelju dana kasnije, francuski jutjuber Leo Grase podi-jelio je sličnu informaciju. Uslijedi-lo je medijsko izvještavanje: Fejz (Fazze), marketinška kompanija sa

sjedištem u Londonu povezana sa Rusijom, nudila je novac influense-rima da diskredituju vakcinu protiv korona virusa.Ovog mjeseca, Fejsbuk je najavio da će blokirati Fejz. Pored podmi-ćivanja influensera, Fejz je kreirao obmanjujući antivakserski sadr-žaj van platforme i koristio lažne naloge kako bi taj sadržaj širio na Fejsbuku.Prije nego što nastavimo, hajde da razjasnimo tipične nedoumice kad je riječ o razlici između neauten-tičnog ponašanja i misifnforma-cija. Misinformacija se odnosi na ono što neko kaže: Zemlja je ravna ploča je misinformacija, bez obzi-ra na to ko je izgovori. Neautentič-nost se vezuje za identitet ono-ga koji širi informaciju: ako 1.000 lažnih naloga tvrdi da je Zemlja okrugla, ovo je i dalje neautentič-no ponašanje.Fejsbuk je zabranio Fejz ne zbog njihove poruke, već zbog sum-njivih metoda koje su koristili da bi je širili. Nasuprot tome, Fej-sbuk najčešće ne obraća pažnju

Fejsbuk nije uspio da spriječi političare i svjetske lidere da koriste platformu kako bi obmanjivali publiku i maltretirali političke protivnike, kaže Sofi Zang, bivša analitičarka te kompanije

Javno sam ukazala na problem neautentičnog ponašanja na Fejsbuku. Ali, autentične misinformacije su veći problem na Zapadu

NE KRIVIMO RUSKE TROLOVE ZA AMERIČKI PROBLEM SA ANTIVAKSERIMAIzvor: Gardijan

Anti-vakcinaški protesti u Los Anđelesu, foto: Dejvid Meknju/AFP/Getty Images

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na korisnike koji autentično šire misinformacije.Fejz kampanja i gašenje naloga na Fejsbuku rezultiralo je značajnim medijskim izvještavanjem o ruskim dezinformacijama i dalo kredibilitet narativu da je Rusija važan izvor antivakserske propagande kojom obiluju društvene mreže.Ali, kampanja Fejza je bila proma-šaj. Kako tvrde iz Fejsbuka, mimo-vi koje je Fejz dijelio imali su ili par lajkova ili ih nisu imali uopšte, a po-jedine mimove ismijavali su stvarni ljudi... Instagram objave te opera-cije prikupile su oko 1.000 lajkova zajedno, dok je većina imala nula lajkova. Pokušaji Fejza da angažu-je influensere završili su se razot-krivanjem kampanje; na kraju se samo dvoje influensera prijavilo.U međuvremenu, iste nedjelje kada je Fejsbuk zabranio Fejz, vi-deo ljekara iz Indijane, dr Dena Stoka, u kojem iznosi lažne ili ob-manjujuće tvrdnje o maskama i vakcinama na sastanku odbora lokalne škole proširio se društve-nim mrežama. Stokov video priku-pio je više od 92 miliona interakci-ja na Fejsbuku – najmanje hiljadu puta više od kampanje Fejz. Ali, s obzirom na to da je riječ o stvar-noj osobi koja se ponaša autentič-no i o Amerikancu koji se obraća svom narodu, izgleda da je Stok izazvao značajno manje zabrinuto-sti i privukao manju medijsku pa-žnju nego neefikasna, ali neauten-tična kampanja potpomognuta od strane Rusije.

BORBA PROTIV NEAUTENTIČNOG PONAŠANJAKada sam radila u Fejsbuku, pro-vela sam dvije i po godine u bor-bi protiv neautentičnog ponaša-nja. Ja sam bila odgovorna za to što je Fejsbuk uklonio neautentič-ne kampanje koje su sprovele dvije svjetske vlade i postala sam zviž-dač jer Fejsbuk nije smatrao da su moji nalazi prioritet. Stoga, ironič-no je što danas tvrdim da je Zapad isuviše fokusiran na neautentično ponašanje, a nedovoljno na štetu

koju ljudi izazovu autentičnim po-našanjem. (Moj najvažniji rad se odnosio na zemlje trećeg svijeta, u kojima vlade prolaze nekažnjeno, što ostavlja ozbiljne posljedice).Kada bi iza Fejza stajala ruska vla-da – u šta mnogi sumnjaju ali za šta ne postoje dokazi – tvrdila bih da je kampanja bila uspješna za Vladimira Putina. Medijska pažnja koju je dobio Fejz ide u prilog po-grešnom mišljenju da je Rusija od-govorna za značajan broj misin-formacija koje postoje na Zapadu, čime je u velikoj mjeri preuveliča-na percepcija njene moći i uticaja.Na taj način se Putinu pripisuje previše zasluga. Kako i slučaj Sto-kovog videa pokazuje, misinfor-macije dolaze iznutra.

NESRAZMJER PAŽNJE I UTICAJA

Slučaj Fejz potvrđuje da neauten-tično ponašanje može da privuče pažnju koja je nesrazmjerna njego-vom uticaju. Štaviše, mediji često izvještavaju o diskutabilnim navo-dima o neautentičnom ponašanju, obmanjujući javnost o najvjerovat-nijem izvoru misinformacija. U da-nima koji su prethodili izborima u Velikoj Britaniji 2019. godine, je-dan istraživač je tvrdio da su laž-ni nalozi širili misinformacije, ali je našom istragom utvrđeno da iza svega stoje stvarni ljudi. A u fe-bruaru 2020. godine, kada su me-diji posumnjali da Fejsbuk stranica Sjeverna Karolina (North Carolina) predstavlja vid ruskog miješanja,

otkrili smo da iza nje stoji Amerika-nac koji se pretvarao kao ruski trol. Na kraju, fokusirajući se na neau-tentično ponašanje na Zapadu, mediji i Fejsbuk ponovo vode po-sljednji rat iz 2016. godine – fokus sa posljedicama. Nakon mog od-laska, Fejsbuk nije uspio da zau-stavi pokret Zaustavi krađu (Stop the Steal) koji je lažno tvrdio da je Donald Tramp pobijedio na izbo-rima 2020. godine, jer kompanija nije mogla da utvrdi da li taj pokret predstavlja koordinisani napor da se delegitimizuju izbori ili slobod-no izražavanje korisnika. Ali, po-grešna interpretacija i neautentič-no ponašanje su samo dva od 26 Standarda zajednice. Fejsbuk ek-plicitno zabranjuje koordinisanje ili podržavanje štetnih/kriminalnih aktivnosti, ali svejedno nije uspio da spriječi ekstremiste koji su se organizovali na Fejsbuku da nasil-no uđu u Kapitol 6. januara.

Mnogo smo naučili iz ovih slučaje-va, napisali su zaposleni u Fejsbu-ku u svom izvještaju autopsije. Ali šteta je već učinjena i društvu i vla-davini prava. Danas Fejsbuk vje-rovatno pokušava da shvati kako da spriječi da se 2020. godina po-novi. Prije četiri godine, pokušao je da izbjegne ponavljanje greša-ka iz 2016. godine. Fejsbuk mora da nauči da fleksibilnije odgovara na nove prijetnje ili će ga sačeka-ti nova autopsija 2025. godine.

Autor: Sofi Zang

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DFC Magazine No. 35August/September 2021

Publishing and printing:Atlantic Council of Montenegro

Editorial:Editorial board

Cover photoILLUSTRATION

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This project was funded, in part, through a U.S. Department of State grant. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government.

The analysis of a historical context and current events in relation to the anointment of the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Joanikije The police-media anointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Interview on the occasion: Dr. Savo KENTERA, President of the Atlantic Council of Montenegro Defeat of a civilized Montenegro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

The U.S. Afghanistan troop withdrawal has laid bare the failure of the two-decades-long building and strengthening of democratic institutions Talibans - contradicting words and actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Facebook did not succeed in stopping politicians and world leaders from using the platform to manipulate the public and harass the opponents, says Sophie Zhang, a former data scientist in the company Don’t blame Russian trolls for America’s anti-vaxx problem . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Famous slogan no pasaran (They shall not pass) was first used by the French, and af-ter that by Spanish communists during the Civil War. Meanwhile, it became a symbol and the main slogan of the left-wing polit-ical groups. At the same time, no pasaran reminded me of the announced Metropol-itan Joanikije’s anointment in Cetinje. I be-lieved that both the state and the church would be reasonable to hear the voice of Cetinje citizens saying that they were not welcome to anoint the priest of the Serbi-an Orthodox Church in the royal capital.

However, they succeeded to pass after the two-days long unpleasant scenes be-tween the police armed to the teeth and demonstrators on the barricades. The act of anointment did occur after a fashion, but luckily, there were no tragic conse-quences except for minor injuries caused by tear gas, rubber bullets, and stones. Time will tell about the events that con-cerned both local and worldwide public.

One thing is for sure – there are no win-ners, since the anointment ultimately oc-curred contrary to the Cetinje citizens’ will, and also contrary to what the Church had planned – eventually, it was held in pres-ence of a handful of clergymen and strong law enforcement forces.

In short, the epilogue would be: No one’s happy, and no one is content, but both the position and the opposition will use this topic for their political disputes for long. With such priorities, it is question-able whether we can hope that the Gov-ernment, in the conditions of raging coro-navirus pandemic, will finally prioritize the affairs crucial for better life quality and stop making the church issues the daily-political issues. The certain thing is that after disturbing scenes from the last weekend, the feeling of spiritual ag-gression towards the citizens of Cetinje will definitely not contribute to the faster RECONCILIATION.

RECONCILIATION

The anointment of the Metropoli-tan of Montenegro and the Litto-ral of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) Joanikije (Micovic) in Cet-inje on September 5, renewed the atavisms of mutual historical con-flicts of the two opposing concepts

and narratives – the Greens and the Whites, Partisans and Chetniks, sovereigntists and unitarists, thus deepening the ambiance of existen-tial crisis and lapsing the Montene-grin society. This friend-foe atmo-sphere demonstrated the fragility of

the civic character of Montenegrin society, oppressed by the growing clericalism. The burden of the divid-ed interpretations of the past and outlooks on the future, frequently limited by dogmas, is an obstacle in all serious efforts to establish the culture of social dialogue. In such a historical context, it is valid to observe the insistence to anoint a new Metropolitan in the Cetin-je Monastery, in this specific social moment at all costs. The great part of Montenegrin public perceived this act as a manifestation of the cultur-al and political aggression and pow-er of Belgrade, and an occasion to show that Montenegro is a part of the Serbian world, while others, loy-al to that religious community (SOC) see no harm in such act. Despite the estimation of the intel-ligence and security sector that no one can guarantee for the security in Cetinje and in spite of dissonant tones in the Government, Metro-politan Joanikije and Serbian Pa-triarch Porfirije arrived in Cetinje by

The analysis of a historical context and current events in relation to the anointment of the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Joanikije

Despite the estimation of the intelligence and security sector that no one can guarantee for the security in Cetinje and in spite of dissonant tones in the Government, Metropolitan Joanikije and Serbian Patriarch Porfirije arrived in Cetinje by helicopter, followed by the Special Police Unit, while the police forces in the very center of the Montenegrin Royal Capital were breaking through the barricades and protesters’ line firing tear gas and shock bombs.

THE POLICE-MEDIA ANOINTMENT

Source: Reuters

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helicopter, followed by the Special Police Unit, while the police forces in the very center of the Montenegrin Royal Capital were breaking through the barricades and protesters’ line firing tear gas and shock bombs. Af-ter the short ceremony, they came back to Podgorica the same way.

SEPARATING THE CHURCH FROM THE STATEDuring the years-long existence of the State and the Church, the Church practice ordered that the Metropolitan is anointed and re-sides in Cetinje, as a spiritual and state center of Montenegro, whose backbone was the Metropolitanate of Cetinje. The role of the Church until its formal separation from the state in 1852 was the decisive one in almost all the social spheres – ed-ucation, first forms of the direct de-mocracy and political life, and her role in the centuries-long defense of Montenegro from the emperors is particularly special. The Cetin-je Monastery was the center of the most important state institutions, a place of gathering where the crucial events occurred. Today, however, the perception of the essential and symbolic significance of the Church is subject to politicization and it is a clear line that Montenegro is divid-ed upon.Negation of Montenegrin identity in the appearances of the SOC repre-sentatives and placing the religious in the space of politics (especially in

the context of the SOC role in the election and post-election process-es during 2020 and 2021) resulted in accentuated social polarization and problematization of the venue of anointment, bearing in mind the sig-nificance of the Royal Capital in the creation of the state. The attitude of the government undoubtedly contrib-utes to this, since not only it failed to protect its institutions from the Church influence, but it emerged as its direct product.

PRO ET CONTRA ANOINTMENTAside from the turbulent domestic scene divided into two wings, the anointment of the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Joani-kije caused reactions of the actors from the region and internation-al community. Defending his own

srestrained attitude, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic at first re-minded that his job was to take care of the interests of his people.The Serbian President gave a state-ment soon after the disapproved anointment in the Cetinje Monastery, affirming the role that the Govern-ment of Montenegro and its law-en-forcement bodies, as well as the Serbian Security Information Agen-cy (BIA), had in this act. On that oc-casion, we found out that the Gov-ernment of Montenegro planned to postpone the anointment, but that decision was changed overnight. The information on postponement of the anointment was republished by the media that are declared as Ser-bian pro-regime in the information environment. On the other hand, the Government of Montenegro assured that the postponement of the cere-mony in Cetinje was not considered,

Graphics presenting a number of posts and interactions on news, blog, Facebook and Twitter

StatisticsThe precise figures indicate that the issue of anointment was a burning one in the online world. In the period between September 1 and 7, there were 11.244 posts on Facebook that generated an incredible 1.674.030 interactions. In the same period, there were 43.600 posts on Twitter while the topic of Cetinje appeared in 17.100 articles in the media.

Source: Al Jazeera

DFC Magazin | 23

which leaves room to doubt the truthfulness of the statements from the Prime Minister’s Office but also to ask a legitimate question whether it was decided in Montenegro if the anointment would(not) take place. Other Serbian officials were less re-served in their statements, including President of the Parliament of Serbia Ivica Dacic, Minister of Interior and bastion of the Serbian World Alek-sandar Vulin, who agreed that there were forces in Montenegro that had been working on creating divisions between the Serbian and the Monte-negrin people for decades. For them, Djukanovic’s invitation to move the venue of anointment has nothing to do with the Church but only with his own interests to remain in power af-ter he had felt that particular danger lurks from Serbian and the Serbian Orthodox Church.

THE SERBIAN MEDIA MA-CHINERY WORKING FOR THE SOC AND THE REGIME The media controlled by the Serbian Government support the attitudes of Belgrade, which declarative-ly advocates for good Serbia-Mon-tenegro relations, even though it is openly creating tensions. Judg-ing by the Serbian media, Cetin-je is a center of Montenegrin sepa-ratism and anti-Serbian ideologies. Besides launching disinformation, Belgrade-based tabloids were fre-quently alluding to civil war and bloodshed. After the narrative on calling for blood and unrest in Cetinje, along with those on the state of war and the lynch of Serbs, the Serbian pro-regime tabloids started to report on the unsuccessful coup in Cetin-je immediately upon the anoint-ment, followed by applauds to Dep-uty Prime Minister Abazovic who, according to them, saved the day. Even though the Agency for Elec-tronic Media limited broadcasting of the programs on the Serbian tele-visions in February last year, since

they were promoting hate, intoler-ance, and discrimination, it did not do it now, despite numerous inflam-matory messages that were contin-uously sent before September 5 and on the very day of the anointment. However, the Council of the Agency for Electronic Media is working on a detailed and thorough analysis of the debatable content launched by Happy TV and limiting the content will be a topic during one of the fol-lowing sessions, announced Presi-dent of the Council of the Agency for Electronic Media Branko Boskovic.TV show Cirilica on the Happy TV, prepared and hosted by Milomir Maric, on the topic Will bloodshed occur in Montenegro was broadcast on August 30, which indicates that the disturbing bloodshed-inciting

narratives are not limited to the headlines of the Serbian tabloids. The media that brutally discredit political opponents in order to incite the conflicts while at the same time promote and spread hate speech are mobilizing the masses and may be fatal for anyone that gets trapped into their media manipulation.

ONLINE HATE SPEECHMeanwhile, there was a struggle without respite on social media be-tween two wings, one shouting that it was time for the National Monte-negrin assembly and another one impatiently waiting for the anoint-ment of the Metropolitan Joanikije in Cetinje. However, the recent ar-rest of a person who threatened to slaughter and kill in Cetinje on social networks, but also the increasing threats that Cetinje will be the new Srebrenica testifies that this strug-gle has left the normative frame-work on freedom of expression on-line a long time ago. This period of tension created continuous threats, fake news, and disinformation on the anointment such as the one on the announced concert of Jadran-ka Barjaktarevic and Marko Perkov-ic Thompson on the gathering of the anointment opponents, which has never been planned. Similar manip-ulation occurred on August 29 when

Stavove zvaničnog Beograda, koji se deklarativno zalaže za dobre odnose sa Crnom Gorom, iako otvoreno kreira tenzije, potpomažu i mediji koji su pod kontrolom Vlade Srbije

A shot of the Cirilica TV show on Happy TV

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the unknown perpetrator abused the Radio and Television Cetinje and at-tempted to discredit that media by publishing fake news support-ing the anointment of Metropolitan Joanikije.

MANIPULATING VIA FAKE NEWS AND DISINFORMATION Besides having recognized that no one can be guaranteed safety in Cetinje, the Government of Monte-negro did not give up on the anoint-ment being organized in Cetinje. That decision was met with criti-cisms among both the national and broader public. That is the reason why the me-dia Vijesti tried to justify the Gov-ernment’s decision by publishing a survey from NGO Nova srpska pol-iticka misao (the New Serbian Po-litical Thought) on alleged support (amounting to 54.2%) of the citi-zens of Montenegro to Metropolitan Joanikije’s anointment in Cetinje. The Institution’s research is dis-putable since its President Djord-je Vukadinovic, a Serbian nation-alist, Russophile, and opponent to the Montenegrin independence distanced himself in 2015 from re-search on the social and political sit-uation in Montenegro published by his own organization. Vukadinovic was not familiar with the method-ology and he admitted that he was asked to present the research to the public, even though he did not say by who. He is a member of the

so-called Committee on Defense of DF leaders Andrija Mandic and Mi-lan Knezevic and other persons ac-cused of the 2016 coup attempt. The Committee consists of oth-er negators of Montenegro and the Montenegrin identity such as Ce-domir Antic and Aleksandar Ra-kovic. Publishing unverified surveys such as this, particularly in a situa-tion where the tensions already ex-ist, does nothing but increases ad-ditional tensions and polarization in our society. The media in Montenegro and Ser-bia spread disinformation on alleged police repression towards Monte-negrin, i.e. Serbian people in the country. The narrative spread de-pended on the political affiliation

of the media. The pro-Montenegrin media wrote about repression to-wards Montenegrins, while the Ser-bian media wrote about repression towards Serbs. These were typical examples of fake news with a view to raise tensions and radicalize cit-izens of both nationalities. In coop-eration with the Police Directorate, the DFC successfully denied those allegations.A series of Montenegrin media pub-lished fake news on bus convoys packed with people traveling from Belgrade to Podgorica to support the anointment. However, on that very day, Montenegrin borders did not witness any bus convoys or greater crowds that would underpin such allegations.The coordinated actions of pro-Ser-bian and pro-Russian Facebook pages were registered at the very beginning of the protest in Cetin-je. Inflammatory rhetoric and coor-dinated actions on Facebook pages coming from Serbia were performed on the pattern used during the local elections in Niksic, with tens of pag-es simultaneously posting fake and sensationalistic news on the events in Cetinje. More coordinated actions were registered during the day, and a threat of such operation was sig-nificantly bigger than usual, bear-ing in mind that a total number of

Screenshots of the news portals Kodex.me, Vecernje novosti and Informer

Screenshots of the news portals IN4S, Borba and Srbija danas

DFC Magazin | 25

people following those pages ex-ceeds 580,000.Furthermore, during the day, Ser-bian tabloids were continuously spreading disinformation and fake news, while reporting in a sensa-tional manner. One of the fake news was that the Democratic Party of So-cialists (DPS) provided young men, who were getting prepared to cre-ate chaos, with T-shirts with Serbian hallmarks to put on. That day, there were no young men wearing T-shirts with Serbian hallmarks in Cetinje.

COCKTAIL AS A TRIGGER FOR THE POLICE ACTIONOne of the most dangerous disin-formation during the protest in Cet-inje was launched by the ones who were, in those moments, supposed to give as precise information as possible. In fact, the announcement from Prime Minister Zdravko Kri-vokapic’s Office was published on the Vijesti portal at 06:16 a.m. stat-ing that protesters threw a Molotov cocktail on the Police members. In-formation that certainly worried all Montenegrin citizens was, in fact, fake news. Our people operating on the field, as well as journalists from other media, including a jour-nalist from Vijesti, confirmed it was fake news. She reported that she neither saw nor heard that such an incident had happened. Almost all media from Serbia republished that fake news.

It is very indicative that the news was published at the moment when the police started implementing strong measures against the protesters. It is evident that the Prime Minister’s Office intended to justify started po-lice intervention. Deputy Prime Min-ister Dritan Abazovic tried to justify the police intervention as well, in a breaking news block on TV Vijesti, where he demonstrated a photo of a protestor holding the Molotov cock-tail. However, even without having special knowledge of digital foren-sics, one can easily determine from the photo that the time when it was captured does not coincide with the time when the police action started. The photo was taken three hours af-ter the police intervention and the announcement from the Prime Min-ister’s Office. The following day, the Prime Minister himself said at the press conference that he did not

know when the photo, that was sup-posed to be key evidence for the Of-fice’s announcement, had been tak-en. If it is the same photo, it will be interesting to see how Prime Minister is going to explain that, at the mo-ment of publishing the press release, he already had a photo taken three hours after its very publishing. Vijesti received a video from the sur-veillance cameras on September 7, which showed police officers being attacked by an explosive device re-sembling the Molotov cocktail. That media tried to discredit the DFC, thus justifying itself and the govern-ment representatives. However, our team promptly reacted, analyzed the mentioned video, and found out that, similarly as with the photo, the time did not coincide with the time when the press release from the Krivokapic’s Office was published, which was subsequently followed

Screenshots of the news portals Gradski.me and Antena M - same photo to disinform the public

An excerpt of Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic’s appearing on Vijesti TV

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by police action. Analyzing the vid-eo published on the Vijesti portal at 8:44 p.m. we found out the following:

■ The alleged Molotov cocktail, which was a trigger for police ac-tion on that morning, was never thrown and cannot be seen in the video published by Vijesti

■ By analyzing the video, one can see that the police and protesters were largely confronted and that throwing of the Molotov cocktail from the video cannot possibly be associated with the press release from the Prime Minister’s Office published on the Vijesti portal, to which DFC reacted. The vid-eo was made when riots in Cet-inje became rampant and almost over, i.e. in the period between 9:15 and 9:30 a.m.;

■ The time when the video was made was determined based on the digital record from the surveil-lance cameras, comparative foot-ages from various cameras, and additional forensics of the pub-lished video;

■ The police fired first tear gas into protesters at Dvorski trg (Court Square) when in other streets in Cetinje there were no confronta-tions with protesters;

■ The mentioned video was made in Decanska Street, which is one of the side streets in Cetinje in which confrontations between the po-lice and protesters happened lat-er, which can be seen in the video published by Vijesti.

After all, the logical question rises – why did one of the biggest me-dia outlets in Montenegro and the region, obviously coordinating with the Government of Montenegro, try to deceive the public.

FOREIGN FOOTPRINTThe international community was continuously trying to reduce ten-sions through its appeals, but such an approach proved to be inefficient. Tonino Picula, EP Standing Rappor-teur on Montenegro, and Vladimir Bilcik, Chairman of the Delegation to the EU-Montenegro Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Com-mittee, pointed out after the anoint-ment that politicization of religion poorly affects the European path of Montenegro, but also that political abuse of one’s religious beliefs is not compatible with the ongoing reform

process of Montenegro, sending a very clear message.The Russian involvement and activ-ities in Montenegro and Cetinje are best illustrated by the statement of the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Fed-eration Maria Zakharova and Arch-priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Igor Yakimchuk about the artificial character of the protest that can be connected with the Presi-dent of Montenegro, which is iden-tical narrative spread by Metropoli-tan Joanikije and other pro-Russian actors in the country and the region, whose ultimate goal is to divert Mon-tenegro from its Western course.

There was no noticeable and open interference of Russia in Cetinje, but its footprint and the use of all instru-ments from the weaponry of Rus-sian soft power, through proxies in Montenegro and the region were recognizable.

The events in Cetinje showed that neither side intended to back down an inch and that the worsening of the situation with hate speech, incite-ment, disinformation, and fake news coming from various propaganda kitchens was at the expense of pub-lic order and peace authorities. Last weekend, we witnessed moments in which the personal interests of do-mestic actors take precedence over the common good, while moderate attitudes and reasonable actions are not desirable because they have a hint of backing down.

A video published on the Vijesti news portal: the moment when Molotov cocktail was thrown at the police does not correspond to the moment when the Prime Minister’s Office published the press release

Screenshots of the news portals Vijesti i Dan – a synchronized rhetoric

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Interview on the occasion: Dr. Savo KENTERA President of the Atlantic Council of Montenegro

DEFEAT OF A CIVILIZED MONTENEGROThe decision to anoint Metropolitan Joanikije in Cetinje on September 5 caused a stir and polarized the Montenegrin political scene. While waiting for the ceremony, we witnessed mutual accusations between those who welcomed the anointment and those who objected to the ceremony’s taking place in Cetinje

DFC INTERVIEW

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A year has passed since the new government has been enthroned, and the tensions following that con-siderable political change have not eased. They are, rather, flaring up. The impression is that almost any topic can trigger destabilization of the Montenegrin society and public.

The most recent event – the anoint-ment of Metropolitan Joanikije in Cetinje on September 5, caused a stir and polarized the Montenegrin political scene. While waiting for the ceremony, we witnessed mutual ac-cusations between those who wel-comed the anointment and those who objected to the ceremony’s tak-ing place in Cetinje. The announced religious ceremony was accompa-nied by a media campaign and in-flammatory rhetoric on social media as well. Responding to the appeal sent to the international commu-nity to react to the current events in Montenegro, the U.S. Embassy and the EU Delegation in Podgori-ca called for the easing of tensions.

In the interview for the 35th issue of the DFC Magazine, President of the Atlantic Council of Montenegro (ASCG) Dr. Savo Kentera talks about

current events, further heated by the anointment of Metropolitan of Mon-tenegro and the Littoral Joanikije in Cetinje and the role of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) in political life in Montenegro, as well as the an-nounced census. While Montenegro has been facing tensions and esca-lation of violence in Cetinje – luck-ily, the situation did not escalate in severe conflicts with tragic conse-quences – the world has been flood-ed by tragic scenes from Kabul af-ter the retreat of the U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan and the Tal-iban takeover.

Kentera gladly looks back at the three-year work of the Digital Fo-rensic Center in the fight against malign influences. In the beginning, nobody believed, he says, that the DFC would succeed and manage to accomplish its mission and vi-sions in the fight against malign in-fluences, adding that, in the future, the DFC will focus solely on the es-sence of issues behind the disinfor-mation and fake news that are be-ing spread.

THE CONCERNS ABOUT POTENTIAL CONFLICTS PROVED TO BE JUSTIFIABLEDFC: What have the two-days long ri-ots in Cetinje from September 4 and 5 lay bare? What is your comment on the ac-tions taken by the executive power and the scenes and images that did, for sure, cause concerns among both the citi-zens of Montenegro and the internation-al community?

S. KENTERA: All events in Cetin-je on September 5 showed and laid bare the darkest and the worse side of Montenegro. When I thought that

Montenegro could not rock the bot-tom considering everything that had happened in the previous months, September 5 proved the contrary and, I think, it was on September 5 that we rocked the bottom. It was then when it became apparent how miserable and pitiable we are as a nation, how divided we are as a society, how easy we create strife among ourselves, and how little it is needed for us to be brought to the breaking point that is almost certain-ly impossible to overcome. Luckily and owing to the common sense of people from both sides, which were

easing tensions to the last moment during the whole time of what was happening on September 5, and the extremely professional response of the police, the worst-case scenar-io did not occur – the bloodshed. Whether the police exceeded its au-thority at some point or not – this is to those in charge of it, the time will show. Generally speaking, in an im-mensely complex situation such as September 5 in Cetinje, when the politics asked the police to carry out something that seemed impos-sible, that was known it could esca-late at any time, they really proved to have been up to that task and gave their maximum in such cir-cumstances. On the other hand, a huge disappointment in the politics and the politicians remains, who pri-marily caused that state and who deepened, even more, the already present divisions in the Montene-grin society, which are now much broader.

THE NARRATIVE ON THE RECONCILIATION IS ONLY DECLARATIVE

There is no winner here. None of the sides may celebrate since it is a de-feat of Montenegro. It is a defeat of a civic, civilized Montenegro. It will take a great deal of time for Mon-tenegro to recover from this. I think that September 5 will be referred to as a dark day in the modern Monte-negrin history, since reaching break-even after this means having a long-term, difficult process, which will require the decisiveness of political actors to start reconciling the people and easing the tensions. The worst thing is that, at this moment, I do not see either readiness or wish of any of the political actors in Montenegro to initiate the process, to deal with it really; on the contrary, the narra-tive on reconciliation is only declar-ative and everything that has been done so far refutes it – that is what the events of September 5 proved.

If anyone in the country was ready to reconcile and ease the ten-sions, then the events in Cetinje on September 5 should have been

When i thought that Montenegro could not rock the bottom considering everything that had happened in the previous months, September 5 proved the contrary and, I think, it was on September 5 that we rocked the bottom

DFC Magazin | 29

forbidden – I talk about both the pro-tests and the anointment, although that way, human rights or religious freedoms would be breached, per-haps. Such a decision would show that a person, who is a stateman – that we did not have at this time, un-fortunately, primarily takes care of the state of Montenegro and all its citizens and does not make politi-cal decisions and puts the respon-sibility solely in the hands of the po-lice, pushing them off on to deal with both sides, in order to collect cheap political points.

It was clear that both sides were very tense and negatively charged. I have a feeling that both sides, the pro-Montenegrin and the pro-Serbi-an, seemed to have been just wait-ing for something to happen to un-leash their discontent that, I believe, has been building up for years. Moreover, the reason behind the ev-ident frustrations was not the cere-mony itself, but it can be the cause for something that, broadly speak-ing, may have tremendous conse-quences on not only Montenegro but the entire region as well. It is im-portant to note that Montenegro’s society still has not recovered from the 1918 divisions.

INSTABILITY WORKS ONLY FOR RUSSIADFC: How do you interpret the influence coming from Belgrade that, helped by its like-minded supporters (DF), brought the Serbian Orthodox Church into Montene-grin political ring as a part of its “Serbi-an world” strategy?

S. KENTERA: The Serbian Ortho-dox Church, unfortunately, did not enter the game of politics recent-ly. The SOC has been brought into this game a long, long time ago. Unfortunately, the SOC in Monte-negro has been used by Serbia, and primarily Russia, as an instru-ment for accomplishing their po-litical goals. There are extremely

good, high-quality persons, priests, who perform their job and are com-mitted to what they had chosen as their call – nothing but religion. How-ever, a great number of them are not performing religion-related du-ties, or what they should be doing in the first place, they are into pol-itics instead. This cannot good for the SOC in the long term. This can-not be good for any other church, and, therefore, both the SOC and any other church should do nothing but their primary job – preaching the faith. Both Serbia and Russia have to understand that using the SOC as their instrument cannot contribute

to the stability of Montenegro, can-not contribute to the stability in the region, and, therefore, they have to find some other instrument and leave the SOC to do its primary job. However, once we consider that in-stability works only for Russia, then it becomes evident why the SOC is being used for such purposes.

DFC: Considering your position and, therefore, information that you may have, how do you see and interpret the previous year and considerable political changes in the political scene in Monte-negro and the further escalation of the situation by insisting on the anointment

Church ceremony acquiring political dimensionConsidering the complexity of the political and security situation in the country, I believed that it would have been in the best interest of pe-ace and reconciliation in Montenegro if either Metropolitan Joaniki-je or Patriarch Porfirije had announced to the public that they decided to perform the ceremony in Podgorica. Such a decision would have been welcomed by everyone, and the Church would thus have fulfilled its true role, instead of deepening the rifts and acting against the inte-rest of the majority in Montenegro. Therefore, it should be noted that the issue was not about the anointment of Bishop Joanikije – whet-her or not it would take place in Cetinje, for it definitely represented a religious event par excellence. It was about the fact that that religious event had acquired a political dimension, and it is now solely a politi-cal issue. For the all mentioned reasons, another location should have been considered, either Podgorica or some other city.

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DFC INTERVIEW

of Metropolitan Joanikije in Cetinje, and, finally, conducting that ceremony against the will of part of the Montene-grin citizens?

S. KENTERA: Unfortunately, I can say that one year after the change of government, tensions in Monte-negro have not been eased. On the contrary, tensions and divisions in society seem to be only more pro-nounced. As a result, we have an un-stable country that has transformed from once the leader in the EU inte-gration in the region into a country that, in the 21st century, deals with religious issues, which should not have been on the agenda in the first place. For example, we still have not decided on the negotiators for the key negotiating Chapters with the EU and, instead of discussing economic issues and the future of Montenegro, we had been arguing whether the anointment would take place in Cetinje or elsewhere. More-over, this issue has created discord and caused justifiable and serious concerns about a high possibility that the incidents would occur, as it turned out to be correct.

THE CRISIS IN AFGHANISTAN – A PASSING PHRASE

DFC: The withdrawal of the U.S. forc-es from Afghanistan resulted in the rap-id Taliban action and takeover. The entire world has been shocked by the scenes of chaos, panic, and fear among the peo-ple of Afghanistan since the extrem-ists seized power and introduced Sha-ria law. Do you find any resemblance between these scenes and events with the withdrawal of the U.S. soldiers from Vietnam?

S. KENTERA: I would not compare the situation in Afghanistan with that in Vietnam, but what we need to know is that everything that has been happening in Afghanistan is not a consequence of the last two or three weeks, as the media have been reporting that Afghanistan, that is Kabul, fell into the Taliban’s hands. Afghanistan was lost at the moment when the Trump administration sat

at a table with the Taliban without official government representatives and started negotiations on the withdrawal from the country. They made an agreement that the U.S. forces withdraw once the right date was determined, while the Taliban guaranteed that they would attack neither the U.S. and NATO troops, nor cooperate with nor offer refuge to Al Qaida or any other terrorist organization.It should be noted that the whole time the U.S. intelligence commu-nity had been warning President Biden about the consequences of the withdrawal of the U.S. troops at this moment, about what would happen and how soon the Tali-ban would seize the power. When you do not listen to the intelligence community that is eyes and ears on the ground, a situation like the one in Afghanistan is what happens. On the other hand, I completely under-stand the political decision. The time has come for allied troops to retreat from Afghanistan. Absolutely every-thing possible was done to transfer

the knowledge to the Afghan army and forces concerning the training and everything necessary for seizing full control over the country one day. It was not realistic to expect that the U.S. soldiers and NATO forces would stay in Afghanistan forever and it was inevitable that the with-drawal would eventually take place. But if you are doing little or nothing to save your own country while be-ing aware that the Taliban are pos-ing threat, you cannot expect, then, someone else to always defend you and to be always there for you. At some point, you must take responsi-bility and fight for your own country.

DFC: Do you agree or not with the opin-ion of some analysts that trillions of U.S. dollars have been wasted on building a stable society in Afghanistan?

S. KENTERA: I do not believe at all that trillions of dollars have been wasted and I believe that everything that had been invested in Afghani-stan is best reflected in the Afghan people who are fleeing their coun-try in droves because they do not

Yes, to the census, but for the right reasonsDFC: The issue of census rif-ted the already dysfunctio-nal parliamentary majority. The DF’s insisting on the Govern-ment carrying out census this year, including the ethnici-ty question, has been suppor-ted by an active campaign of the Serbian government. The EU legislation on the census, however, does not include et-hnicity question, since it can be a sensitive issue in many countries, says Eurostat. Did Montenegro, burdened with major issues, reach its boiling point after a year of heated atmosphere?

S. KENTERA: The census is cer-tainly a sensitive issue, and es-pecially in Montenegro, and especially in all the Balkan

countries. It has deepened many rifts in the Western Balkan coun-tries. Insisting today on sensitive issues that are not recognized by the EU legislation is dangerous. It is unthinkable to ask citizens of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, or the UK about their nationality or religion; they would not even understand why you are asking them that. The census should be carried out, but for the right re-asons, in the first place, to con-sider the demographic structu-re of the society from the aspect of the economic indicators, and to use it to improve the situati-on in our country at different le-vels. The questions concerning ethnicity, religion, and nationality should definitely be left out from the census, as not to deepen the rifts in Montenegro.

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want to live under the Taliban rule and because they do not want to go back to the time when the Taliban had ruled, after the progress that has been made in Afghanistan, af-ter everything that has been done in the fields of education, econ-omy, human rights, and all other segments of this country’s society. However, I believe that the current image of Afghanistan is a passing phase. I believe that, with the help from the Western partners, above all, the U.S. and NATO, there would be a way to help Afghanistan to be-come once again the country where living is possible and where the ref-ugees can return.

PROUD OF PEOPLE WORKING AT THE DFCDFC: The Digital Forensic Center, the project of the Atlantic Council of Monte-negro, has been working for three years now on researching and debunking dis-information, and analyzing campaigns and foreign interference in the inter-nal affairs of Montenegro. How do you assess the work of the DFC in the fight against these phenomena and foreign influence?

S. KENTERA: Today, after three years have passed, I can say that I am really proud of the people work-ing at the DFC and the results they accomplished in the incredible cir-cumstances during the unprece-dented campaign against Montene-gro led by Serbia and Russia. They had many examples to learn from in practice while growing together in all those processes and acquiring new skills on how to fight against such harmful influence coming from third countries and how to put an end to it. The key thing, I believe, that we have all learned, is that we cannot fight against lies and disinformation in the same manner – by spreading disinformation and lies. From the very beginning, our path, the only possible and the most quality strate-gy, has been to use nothing but truth

against lies. Truth is what we have been advocating for; the truth is what we have promoted to the pub-lic for the last three years and what will remain the core of our work.

THE DISINFORMATION BACKGROUND WILL BE IN THE FOCUS

I want to stress that we will not be governed, in the future period nei-ther, as we have not been now ei-ther, by the quantity of disinforma-tion debunked on a daily, monthly, or yearly basis. We will not occupy ourselves with the topics that do not deserve attention from the aspect of quality of life in Montenegro, I am re-ferring to some completely irrelevant things. We will focus on the core of problems, on the background of dis-information and fake news that are being spread. Our goal will be to ex-pose those standing behind them, find out their goal, modus operan-di, the responsible actors, and the entire network that is interlaced and wants to discredit and destroy dem-ocratic systems. Montenegro can serve as an example to the whole

world of what Russia can do with its well-designed disinformation cam-paigns, including different malign influences manifested through po-litical parties, non-governmental or-ganizations, media, and education system, etc. We want to show all the harm that Russia can cause to any country in the world, even a NATO member, in order to make the pub-lic believe, and that is its ultimate goal, that a stable country, such as Montenegro – a NATO member, can slip into chaos and instability at any moment. This is a way for Russia to prove that NATO and democracy are not the right values and no country should aspire to them.

From the very beginning, our path, the only possible and the most quality strategy, has been to use nothing but truth against lies

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When the former President of the United States of America Donald Trump signed the agreement with the Taliban on the U.S. troops with-drawal in February 2020, all NATO members took a rather positive stance on the agreement. The U.S.

troops, according to the agreement, were to leave Afghanistan within 14 months, while the Taliban agreed not to shelter terrorists in Afghan-istan, and to start peace negotia-tions with the Afghan government. This served as an opportunity to

end a decades-long war that took countless lives and on which tre-mendous amounts of money were spent.The dramatic events in Afghani-stan, that we have been witnessing on a daily basis for the last month and a half, have demonstrated how naïve the leaders of NATO mem-bers were for their unfounded op-timism, in the first place, that Af-ghanistan alone could continue democratization of society. En-couraged by the withdrawal of the U.S. and other international forces, the Taliban controlled a major part

The U.S. Afghanistan troop withdrawal has laid bare the failure of the two-decades-long building and strengthening of democratic institutions

The dramatic events in Afghanistan, that we have been witnessing for the last month and a half, have demonstrated how naïve the leaders of NATO members were for their unfounded optimism, in the first place, that Afghanistan could continue democratization of society alone

TALIBANS - CONTRADICTING WORDS AND ACTIONS

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DFC WORLD

of the country by June. After Au-gust 6, their advance gained new momentum. In ten days only, the Taliban swept across Afghanistan and took control of cities across the country. The Taliban seized the first provincial capital on August 6, and by August 15, they arrived at the gates of Kabul. Despite 20 years of outside support, billions of dol-lars of funding, an extensive pro-gram of training, and U.S. air sup-port, the Afghan security forces did not put a fight.

FEAR AND CHAOS – A NEW FACE OF AFGHANISTANThe Taliban takeover forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. While many of them came to the Afghan capital, others head-ed for neighboring countries. As President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, the chaos broke out in and thousands of his compatriots have been trying to do likewise. By Au-gust 15, 17,600 people escaping the Taliban arrived in Kabul, accord-ing to the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. With the chaos ruling at the Afghan airports and across the country, the Islamic State used the opportunity to carry out a terrorist attack at the

Kabul airport. More than 110 peo-ple died in the attack, while more than 180 were wounded.And while desperate Afghans are clinging on planes taxiing for take-off, hoping to be taken somewhere safer, some of the European coun-tries are building border walls, pre-paring for a new refugee crisis. Si-multaneously, the question rises how Afghanistan will look like un-der the Taliban who were last in power 20 years ago. Even though the Taliban takeover raises many questions concerning all areas, the two most dominant ones stand out, whose solutions had already been the most extreme – women’s rights and media freedoms and access to the Internet, which have been en-dangered during their previous rule.

DESTINY OF INDEPENDENT MEDIA UNCERTAINDuring the Taliban rule in the nine-ties, there were no independent media. The access to television, for those who could afford it, was restricted. This means that they only had access to the contents approved by the Taliban who had completely controlled the flow of in-formation in accordance with their interpretation of Sharia law. News

programs were broadcasted only by the channels under the Taliban control. After the Taliban regime was over-thrown in 2001, the wide access to digital telecommunication services became the reality for Afghanistan, imposing major social changes. To-day, millions of Afghans have ac-cess to different media, while the use of electronic devices allowed them to have access to information and to be involved in the socio-po-litical discourse. The Taliban’s return to power is a source of legitimate concern that media freedom will be endangered. The Taliban were behind the 2016 bomb attack targeting the ma-jor media outlet in the country, the TOLO TV, financially supported by the USAID. Particularly endan-gered are journalists working at the media outlets that are cooperat-ing with the Western countries. The U.S. Committee to Protect Journal-ists received more than 5,000 emer-gency messages from Afghans ask-ing for help. However, the Taliban are well aware that Afghan society has undergone changes in the last 20 years. They expressed it at their first press con-ference held after the takeover. Pri-vate media can continue to be free and independent; they can contin-ue their activities... Impartiality of the media is very important. They can critique our work so that we can improve, the Taliban spokes-man Zabihula Mujahid reassured journalists at the press conference held on August 17. They were also interviewed by a woman journalist from TOLO TV. The Taliban know that they can-not just draw the curtain over the society which has been used to some degree of media freedoms, and such an act would provoke discontent, especially among the youth. They are trying, therefore, to be seen by the public in a good light, because for them to remain in power, public support is absolutely

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necessary. However, an attack against the TOLO TV journalist has been recorded. Ziar Khan Yaad was attacked while his phone, with a video he made for a news report on the economic situation, was confis-cated. It is to be expected that, as the Taliban tighten their power grip, their control over the media will only grow.

SOCIAL MEDIA – A NEW TALIBAN WEAPONIt has been more than a decade since the democratization process started in Afghanistan. One out-come of this process was the estab-lishment of social media, impacting the everyday lives of individuals in the country. Social media played an important role in transforming Afghanistan into a more democrat-ic society.The period of broad usage of so-cial media started after the collapse of the Taliban regime. In the nine-ties, they had banned the Internet. But two decades later, the Taliban are quite skilled at using modern communication technologies, so-cial media, and smartphone appli-cations to win the war for Afghan hearts and minds through a strong propaganda campaign.

Tweeting photos from frontlines, posting videos of attacks on Face-book, and widely circulating lead-ership pronouncements and view-points are now central to the Taliban’s military and political strat-egy for winning over public opin-ion, altering its perceptions, and drawing the society closer to the Taliban. In addition, they are us-ing social media as a recruitment tool, and they are effectively using them to identify and neutralize their opponents. In the hand of the Taliban, social media became a powerful weap-on for stifling the opposition and sharing their messages. They are now tightly controlling the country and are using thousands of Twitter accounts (both official and anony-mous) so as to calm down the terri-fied Afghan city population which is

the most active on the social media platforms.The photos of peace and stability that are being posted by the Tali-ban are hard to reconcile with the chaotic scenes of the U.S. evacua-tion at the Kabul airport or the vid-eos of demonstrates being beaten and shot at. The lack of digital and media literacy in the Afghan soci-ety will allow the Taliban to rule the country using social media plat-forms, despite advocating for fun-damentalistic religious concepts and a tendency for violence. TECH GIANTS SILENTThe new regime in Afghanistan is consolidated by an inadequate and inconsistent tech giants’ ap-proach to the violent and manipula-tive content being promoted by the Taliban. The Global Internet Forum

to Counter Terrorism is an indus-try group launched by Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Microsoft to prevent terrorists and violent ex-tremists from exploiting digital plat-forms. However, it has not taken a position on whether to let the Tali-ban take over the Afghan govern-ment’s official social media handles or verify the accounts of its lead-ers and how to address the new regime’s communications, partic-ularly on encrypted platforms like WhatsApp. The policy of the major social plat-forms on the Taliban accounts and their content is still inconsistent. Facebook banned the Taliban, but that hasn’t held up across its plat-forms. Google-owned YouTube also said it would terminate Afghan Tal-iban accounts. But Twitter has not pledged to block them, stating only that it would take action on posts that violate platform rules.What this has been telling us is that the Taliban are more than willing not to fall behind the times but rather to adapt and foster technological innovation and acknowledge the achievements of the Western de-mocracy such as freedom of me-dia and other accomplishments of the developed world, which is per-ceived as unfriendly, in order to ma-nipulate with and undermine the very same achievements and free-dom. The fact that they were nei-ther the first nor last is of no con-solation.

The U.S. troops, according to the agreement, were to leave Afghanistan within 14 months, while the Taliban agreed not to host terrorists in Afghanistan, and to start peace negotiations with the Afghan government

Source: Boell.de

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On 18 May 2021, German You-Tuber Mirko Drotschmann tweet-ed an unusual message: a mar-keting agency was asking him to share allegedly leaked documents on Covid-19 vaccine deaths. Within a week, French YouTuber

Léo Grasset shared similar news. News reports followed: Fazze, a London-based marketing firm with ties to Russia, was offering money to influencers to falsely disparage a Covid-19 vaccine.This month, Facebook announced

that it was banning Fazze. In addi-tion to bribing influencers, Fazze had created misleading anti-vac-cine content off-platform and used fake accounts to spread it on Facebook.Before we continue, let’s clear up some common confusion between inauthentic behavior and misinfor-mation. Misinformation refers to what someone says: The Earth is flat is misinformation regardless of who says it. Inauthenticity is about the identity of the speaker: if 1,000 fake accounts say The Earth is round, this is still inauthentic.Facebook banned Fazze not be-cause of their message, but be-cause of the shady methods they used to spread it. In contrast, us-ers spreading misinformation au-thentically are generally left alone by FB.The Fazze campaign and Face-book’s takedown resulted in signif-icant media coverage of Russian disinformation and lent credence to the narrative that Russia is an important source of the anti-vac-cine propaganda that floods so-cial media.

Facebook did not succeed in stopping politicians and world leaders from using the platform to manipulate the public and harass the opponents, says Sophie Zhang, a former data scientist in the company

I blew the whistle on inauthentic behavior at Facebook. But authentic misinformation is the bigger problem in the west

DON’T BLAME RUSSIAN TROLLS FOR AMERICA’S ANTI-VAXX PROBLEMSource: The Guardian

Anti-vaccination protesters in Los Angeles. Photograph: David McNew/AFP/Getty Images

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But the Fazze campaign was a fail-ure. Memes spread by Fazze re-ceived few if any likes, and some were ridiculed by real people … the operation’s Instagram posts attracted around 1,000 likes com-bined, with most receiving zero, according to Facebook. Attempts by Fazze to recruit influencers re-sulted in the campaign’s expo-sure; ultimately only two influenc-ers signed up.

Meanwhile, the same week that Facebook banned Fazze, a vid-eo of an Indiana physician, Dr Dan Stock, making false or mis-leading claims about masks and vaccines at a local school board meeting went viral on social me-dia. The Stock video racked up more than 92m engagement ac-tions on Facebook – at least a thousand times more than Fazze’s campaign. But as a real person ex-pressing his authentic views, and as an American speaking to fellow Americans, Stock appears to have garnered significantly less concern – and media coverage – than the ineffective but Russian-backed and inauthentic campaign.

When I worked at Facebook, I spent two and a half years com-bating inauthentic behavior; I was responsible for Facebook taking down inauthentic campaigns by two national governments, and become a whistleblower because Facebook was unwilling to prior-itize my findings. It’s hence iron-ic that today, I’m arguing that the west is too focused on inauthentic behavior and not enough on harm done by people acting authentical-ly. (My most important work was in the global south, where govern-ments act with impunity with seri-ous consequences.)

If Fazze was directed by the Rus-sian government – as many sus-pect but remains unproven – I would argue that the campaign has been a success for Vladi-mir Putin. The media attention on Fazze played into the incorrect be-lief that Russia is responsible for significant amounts of western

misinformation, inflating the per-ception of its power and influence.

This gives Putin too much credit. As the Stock video demonstrates, the misinformation is coming from inside the house.

The Fazze case illustrates that in-authentic behavior can receive at-tention disproportionate to impact. Furthermore, the media has fre-quently covered questionable al-legations of inauthentic behavior, misleading news consumers about the most likely source of misinfor-mation. Days before the 2019 Brit-ish election, a researcher alleged that fake accounts were spreading misinformation, but our investiga-tion found that real people were re-sponsible. And in February 2020, when news outlets suspected a North Carolina Facebook page to be Russian interference, we found it to be run by a real American pre-tending to be a Russian troll.

Ultimately, by focusing on inau-thenticity in the western world, the media and Facebook have been refighting the last war of 2016 – a focus with consequences. Af-ter my departure, Facebook failed to inhibit the Stop the Steal move-ment, which falsely alleged that Donald Trump had won the 2020 election, because the company

could not determine if the move-ment was a coordinated effort to delegitimize the election or free expression by users. But misrep-resentation and inauthentic behav-ior are only two out of 26 commu-nity standards. Facebook explicitly bans coordinating or advocating harmful/criminal activity, but nev-ertheless failed to stop extremists who organized on Facebook to storm the US Capitol on 6 January.

We learned a lot from these cas-es, Facebook staff wrote in a post-mortem. But the damage to society and the rule of law had already happened. Today, Face-book is probably trying to figure out how to stop a repeat of 2020. Four years ago, it sought to avoid repeating the mistakes of 2016. Facebook must learn to respond more flexibly to new threats, or it will be conducting another post-mortem in 2025.

Author: Sophie Zhang was a data scientist for Facebook for two and a half years. In 2021, she blew the whistle on the company’s failure to prevent politicians and world leaders from using the platform to deceive the public and harass opponents

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2021October 15

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