MCCM
RESILIENCE
OUR MEDIA
Although North Macedonia has made formal progress in digital and media regulation, including the adoption of laws on personal data protection and cybersecurity, politicisation, weak enforcement, and fragmented institutional capacity undermine their effectiveness.
Proposed media law amendments fall short of EMFA standards, leaving pluralism, editorial independence, and ownership transparency exposed to covert political and economic influence, while gaps in AI regulation, platform oversight, and civil society inclusion amplify risks across media freedom, digital rights, and democratic governance.
Despite formal alignment with EU and international standards, insufficient safeguards leave the country vulnerable to democratic backsliding, erosion of public trust, and setbacks in EU accession.
These are key messages of the publication North Macedonia: Risk Assessment of the Regulation of Digital Platforms and Media in the Digital Environment [in Macedonian] by SEENPM, produced within a UNESCO project “Building Trust in Media in South East Europe: Support to Journalism as a Public Good”, financed by the EU.
The Risk Assessment is based on an analysis of legislative and policy monitoring processes conducted from December 2024 to May 2025.
The key priorities for North Macedonia underscore the urgent need for regional and international policymaker engagement to safeguard freedom of expression, access to information, and the rule of law through targeted interventions in digital platform and media regulation, detailed in the section below:
- Reform AAAMS (Regulatory Authority) governance and capacity – Implement a fully transparent Council selection process, strengthen Agency funding, staff training, and enforcement mechanisms, and establish expert-driven oversight to secure independent, effective mandate fulfillment and public trust.
- Advance AI policy and human rights training – Develop a comprehensive AI policy aligned with international human rights standards, and in the interim, train civil servants via the Ministry of Public Administration on AI-related discrimination, surveillance, and freedom of expression risks.
- Strengthen civil society engagement – Improve the Council for Cooperation between Government and Civil Society and Sectoral Working Groups by enhancing participation rules and creating clear, inclusive models for stakeholder involvement in policy-making.
The publication is part of a broader series of studies in local languages covering Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Türkiye.
Read the integral – regional collection publication [in English]: Regulating Digital Platforms and Media in the Digital Environment: Risk Assessments
Contextual Risks to Digital Regulation
At the heart of the findings is a clear warning: context shapes outcomes. In already compromised digital information ecosystems, misapplied digital platform regulation risks further deepening existing harm.
North Macedonia faces intersecting risks across media freedom, digital regulation, and cybersecurity, pointing to a governance trajectory that is reactive, fragmented, and misaligned with EU acquis and democratic standards.
Although legislation such as the Law on Personal Data Protection indicates formal progress, weak enforcement and politicised oversight undermine its effect. As across the region, de jure alignment with EU standards does not ensure de facto protection of rights, particularly given continued political influence over key institutions, including the paralysed Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services [AAAMS].
In the media sector, proposed amendments to the Law on Media fail to align with the European Media Freedom Act [EMFA] risk reinforcing control over independent online media, imposing mandatory registration and minimum staffing requirements – rather than safeguarding pluralism and journalistic independence.
The absence of safeguards on ownership transparency, cross-ownership, and protection from interference enables covert political and economic influence and fosters self-censorship, further compounded by the government’s procurement of sentiment analysis software to monitor all media without effective oversight.
Parallel weaknesses in digital regulation design —limited transparency, exclusion of civil society, and weak human rights safeguards—persist despite the National Cybersecurity Strategy (2023–2026), while stalled alignment with the Digital Services Act [DSA] and delays in the Law on Security of Network and Information Systems leave regulatory gaps.
The dismissal of Electronic Communications Agency members without clear justification undermines institutional credibility, and the absence of AI regulation, combined with minimal consultation, risks entrenching a securitised, technocratic approach detached from democratic oversight.
These risks are mutually reinforcing. Without independent institutions and inclusive, rights-based regulation, North Macedonia risks democratic backsliding, erosion of public trust, and setbacks in EU accession. Addressing this requires urgent, transparent reforms that ensure not only formal alignment with European standards but their implementation in practice, including restoring oversight bodies’ independence, embedding human rights protections, and enabling meaningful public and civil society participation.
Addressing the Risks: What Next?
Given the interdependence of these risks, the following recommendations aim to support media freedom, digital rights, and democratic governance in North Macedonia:
- Rights-based DSA alignment – Align the Law on Media and Law on Digital Services with the DSA, embedding safeguards for freedom of expression, transparent content moderation, and platform and state accountability. Ensure an independent Digital Services Coordinator, protect trusted content-flagging from political influence, and guarantee inclusive, transparent law-making in line with UNESCO Guidelines and EU/international oversight.
- Media law reform for pluralism and independence – Introduce changes to the existing Media Law to align it with the EMFA, safeguarding media pluralism, editorial independence, journalists’ rights, and protection from surveillance, while preventing political control over online media through inclusive consultation.
- Whole-of-society response to disinformation – Develop a framework to counter disinformation from all sources and foreign malign influence in the information environment – using coordinated, cross-sector engagement.
- Depoliticised AAAMS appointments – Ensure transparent, merit-based selection of AAAMS Council members based on objective public criteria, safeguarding regulatory independence and human rights in line with UNESCO standards.
- Stronger regulatory capacity – Reinforce AAAMS with increased resources, staff training, and independent enforcement powers, including a specialised unit for digital services and platform oversight.
- Ownership transparency and enforcement – Require full disclosure of media ownership and financing in accessible formats, and enable regulators to effectively monitor, verify, and enforce compliance.
- Safeguards against AI and surveillance misuse – Establish a national AI policy aligned with UN principles, introducing binding safeguards, mandatory human rights impact assessments, and full transparency and accountability at every stage of the AI lifecycle, addressing risks from unregulated deployment and inadequate cyber incident reporting.
- Democratic oversight of digital governance – Ensure digital services, cybersecurity, and AI frameworks include formal multistakeholder participation and evidence-based impact assessments aligned with human rights standards.
- Institutionalised civil society participation – Revitalise existing mechanisms to guarantee inclusive, trust-based engagement and formally recognise civil society’s watchdog role in policymaking.
- Media and Information Literacy strategy – Adopt a comprehensive MIL strategy in line with UNESCO Guidelines, strengthening citizens’—especially vulnerable groups’—capacity to critically engage with content and resist manipulation and disinformation.
Mapping Digital Governance Risks: A Framework
The assessment is based on a bespoke, replicable risk matrix, structured around three risk groups:
- Misalignment with international standards of human rights protection and rule of law;
- External and internal risks: external risks stem from the broader context (e.g. political climate or potential misuse), while internal risks arise from the regulation itself, including legal gaps, weak or missing redress mechanisms, and loopholes;
- Legislative process factors refer to risks related to how a law or policy is developed, including transparency, stakeholder and expert involvement, and potential political influence during drafting and adoption.
North Macedonia: Risk Assessment of the Regulation of Digital Platforms and Media in the Digital Environment [in Macedonian]
The integral – regional collection publication [in English]: Regulating Digital Platforms and Media in the Digital Environment: Risk Assessments
This article was produced within the UNESCO project “Building Trust in Media in South East Europe: Support to Journalism as a Public Good”, financed by the EU.
The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this article do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO or the European Union concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The authors are responsible for the choice and presentation of the facts contained in this article and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO or the European Union and do not commit the Organization.
