The pop-up on the Index.hr news website asking its visitors "to say if they are human beings or members of the HDZ" does not constitute hate speech but "a form of freedom of speech, expressed as satirical criticism of the government", the Croatian Journalists Association (HND) has said.
The ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party has announced legal action against the news website for incitement of hate or discrimination on the grounds of political or other convictions, noting that it expects the competent authorities and the HND to act accordingly.
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In a statement issued on Wednesday, the HND says that even though the post on the Index.hr website may be unacceptable, insulting or tasteless to a part of the public and may also raise the question of whether it constitutes professional, responsible journalism, it cannot be characterised as hate speech because it does not incite hate towards a group or members of a group on the grounds of their race, religion or ethnicity, origin, skin colour, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or other traits.
Anyone who considers that in the case in question a breach of universal journalistic ethical principles, that is, the code of ethics of Croatian journalists, has occurred, should turn to the HND Ethical Council, the umbrella journalists’ association says.
“The HND also recalls that public figures – and politicians who are members of the most powerful party in Croatia definitely are definitely public figures – have to be able, due to the nature of their position, to tolerate public criticism channeled through various media content,” the HND says.
Condemnation and discouraging of critical media content does not contribute to strengthening the pluralism of opinion and democracy, says the HND.
“At a time when proceedings in more than 900 legal cases against journalists are under way, the HND finds Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s threatening legal action unacceptable,” says the HND.
The association notes that it does not want to take part in the ongoing debate which, it says, in a country burdened by a difficult economic and health crisis, has turned into a first-class political issue.
“We call on the entire public or actors on the media scene to defuse tension in the public sphere, and by doing so contribute much more to the professed commitment to responsibility for public statements and freedom of the media,” the HND says.
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