July 1, 2018<\/p>\n
The news that Cvetkovi\u0107 had been found was announced by Serbian President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 and Interior Minister Neboj\u0161a Stefanovi\u0107, speaking at a press conference at which they also announced a campaign against \u201ccreators of fake news\u201d. Specifically, the President of Serbia hinted that news about Cvetkovi\u0107\u2019s abduction was fictitious \u2013 as was the news story claiming that Belgrade\u2019s tap water was toxic, which had appeared on social networks in the preceding days \u2013 and announced that he would take on the creators of fake news.<\/p>\n
Following their statements, Minister without Portfolio Nenad Popovi\u0107 \u2013 who is known, amongst other things, for having filed four lawsuits this year against independent investigate journalist portal KRIK \u2013 proposed that the president form a working group for defending against fake news, stressing that \u201cwhat has happened in recent weeks, especially in Belgrade, is just a prelude to some future fake news.\u201d<\/p>\n
The working group, according to Minister Popovi\u0107, would include representatives of the government, expert bodies, agencies and NGOs, while the idea would be \u201cto establish a legal and institutional framework that would ensure citizens are not exposed to fake news\u201d. It remains unclear, however, what precisely that group would do and what responsibilities it would assume.<\/p>\n
Investigative reporting portal KRIK has announced that the idea of a working group is \u201cdangerous\u201d, as \u201cits fight will be directed against noncomforming media and social networks, while the tabloids will remain untouched because their daily spreading of fake news suits the authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
July 1, 2018 Investigative journalist Stefan Cvetkovi\u0107, who disappeared last month, only to report to police two days later claiming to have been kidnapped and detained against his will in an unknown location, appeared before prosecutors who have filed criminal charges against him for making false claims. Cvetkovi\u0107 later announced that he would present new evidence proving that he had been kidnapped. The news that Cvetkovi\u0107 had been found was announced by Serbian President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 and Interior Minister Neboj\u0161a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3223,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content-en"],"yoast_head":"\n