On 26 November 2025, Democracy for Development (D4D) and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) held the launching conference of the monitoring report on the Code of Conduct for the 2025 local elections, signed on 3 September by political parties, media outlets, and civil society organizations.

Mark Baskin, Senior Advisor at HD opened the discussion by recalling the three key reasons that pushed the signing of the Code of Conduct: social media is the dominant form of communication in the country, yet it too often deepens divisions, disseminates misinformation, and undermines citizens ability to make informed democratic choices. He emphasised that only through stronger media literacy, responsible platform self-regulation, and genuine political reforms can this powerful tool truly serve rather than harm our democracy.

As part of the panel, speakers shared key insights on the role of social media in shaping electoral behaviour:

Rezarta Krasniqi from D4D, gave a comprehensive presentation of the monitoring report’s findings: 152 Code violations were recorded in 14 municipalities, with Prizren recording the highest number. Most violations were hate speech on Facebook. Municipal assembly candidates were the primary offenders, LVV was responsible for the largest share of violations and PDK emerged as the most frequent target.

Besnik Berisha from the Independent Media Commission, IMC, emphasised the urgent need for regulatory frameworks aligned with the EU Digital Services Act to address toxic online environments and emerging challenges such as AI-generated content, while underscoring that this must not turn into censorship.

Kreshnik Gashi from Kallxo.com, stressed that dehumanising rhetoric and the normalisation of hate speech originate largely from political actors rather than the media, urging political leaders to prioritise policy-based discourse instead of divisive tactics.

This event is organized with the support form HD Centre.