Good governance

Preliminary financial reports on campaign expenses of candidates in the second round of presidential elections in Croatia again do not reflect the real costs of advertising on social networks.

Preliminary reports published before the first round of presidential elections present a step forward towards a more complete picture of election campaigns on the networks, but there is still much room for improvement.

Citizen participation is one of the key elements in the establishment and development of modern society representing the interests of all citizens, social groups and society as a whole.

Gong has warned Greco (The Group of States against in the Council of Europe) that Prime Minister Plenković is systematically undermining anti-corruption activities in Croatia. We informed of two recent cases: related to the (1) Commission Regulating Conflict of Interest and (2) Gong  as a civil society watchdog.

Before Dubravka Šuica takes over the duty as a vice-president of European Commission and becomes commissioner for demography and democracy, Gong finds crucial that she comes forward about the content of her mandate. During hearings of candidates for EU Commissioners Ms Šuica should be asked these questions:

Croatian civil society organizations, gathered in the informal network Forum 2020, through in-person consultations in five cities (Rijeka, Varaždin, Split, Osijek and Zagreb) as well as online consultations, have come to an agreement on the priorities for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from January to June 2020.

The data from the SEC financial reports and the social media reports for the European Parliament election show that the amount spent, which Gong warned about even before the election, is not possible to precisely define and it is necessary to more clearly regulate political advertising on social media and digital platforms

The election campaign for the European Parliament in 2019 was the first election campaign in which we have had a somewhat better insight into a political advertisement on social media, especially on Facebook. In accordance to the promise of increasing transparency in advertising which Facebook has given to the European Union, the campaign has provided the public several tools for better understanding of targeted political ads. However, these tools are new, some of the policies are practised inconsistently and it is not quite clear what are the consequences for those who don't follow the advertising rules.

In the run up to the campaign for the European Parliament election, Gong gives some recommendations for the public authority bodies to minimise the threats to the democracy on the internet. They are the result of discussions from the international conference and the expert forum organised by Gong at the beginning of February. They give answers to 4 main risks concerning the election in the digital age.

It is a political responsibility, primarily of the ones that are currently in the position of power, the fact that they enabled – by actions or oversights – for the HRT not to represent a public media service we deserve, but to serve in enabling the relativisation and normalisation of the instances not welcome in the democratic society.