European standards, including the EU Digital Service Act (DSA), require a multi-stakeholder approach to the protection from harmful content online, involving governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, regulatory and self-regulatory bodies, civil society, academia, and media. At a round table organised in Sarajevo, within a joint European Union and Council of Europe action implemented by the Council of Europe’s Division for Cooperation on Freedom of Expression, participants explored co-regulation models for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Journalists, civil society and human rights activists, experts and representatives of the relevant ministries discussed the legal framework in Bosnia and Herzegovina and potential changes needed to align its legal framework with the EU acquis. How to involve all the stakeholders in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as how to ensure efficient collaboration at the regional level, were the questions posed at the round table.

At the round table, the study "Towards Co-regulation of Harmful Online Content in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Study of European Standards and Co-regulatory Practices for Combating Harmful Online Content", developed under the joint action “Protecting freedom of expression and of the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina (PROFREX)”, was presented to the public, and was used as a basis for the discussion.

The activity was organised in collaboration with the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the framework of the PROFREX action, which is part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.