BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA / “Hejt Sloveni”: the video against hate speech seen by several million viewers

Published by Buka, a Bosnian online magazine, “Hejt Sloveni” is a video made as part of an awareness campaign inviting reflection about the hate speech current in ex-Yugoslavia’s social media. The pun is subtle: Hejt (hatred) is similar to Hej, as in “Hej Sloveni” (Hey Slavs) – the title of the Bosnian national anthem.

“Hejt Sloveni” video

The video shows a Bosnian woman, Azra (Hristina Popović), shopping in a supermarket where she meets her butcher Dulet, a Serbian (played by Goran Bogdan), and a cashier Josip, who is Croatian (the pop star Severina). Despite their broad smiles and friendly facades, their exchanges could not be more virulent. Such a scene is not uncommon in Bosnia, where three nationalities – Bosnians, Serbs and Croats – live together. Seen by two million people in 48 hours, the video touches a nerve in the Balkans.

For years we have been trying to speak out against hate speech, especially on the Internet. […] We had to insert a hate speech so we could fight it,” Buka’s editor-in-chief Aleksandar Trifunovic told the BBC. The media journalists working on Buka and covering the whole Balkan Peninsula report being sent more and more hate messages over the years.

For more news about broadcasting events in the Balkans, click here.

Sources: courrierdesbalkans.frbbc.com

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