MCCM
RESILIENCE
OUR MEDIA
In Montenegro, digital regulation, including digital media regulation, is often politicized, while cybersecurity and data protection governance lack transparency and show weak human rights safeguards. Together, these dynamics contribute to regulatory instability rooted in weak institutional capacity and considerations for the rule of law.
Put simply, alignment with the EU acquis has progressed faster than institutional readiness and democratic safeguards, undermining effective implementation across digital platform regulation, media regulation, and EU accession commitments.
These are key messages of the publication Montenegro: Risk Assessment of the Regulation of Digital Platforms and Media in the Digital Environment [in Montenegrin] 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.
This analysis outlines priority institutional needs and challenges in Montenegro requiring stakeholder action to ensure alignment with human rights and the rule of law. Detailed recommendations are provided later in the text.
- Build institutional capacity. Invest in staff, training, and technical resources to address complex challenges like Digital Service Act [DSA] implementation, platform governance, and cybersecurity.
- Integrate rule of law and human rights safeguards. Ensure all legislative proposals in this domain embed strict safeguards that effectively protect users.
- Establish a permanent multistakeholder forum. Ensure civil society, media, fact-checkers, academia, experts, and international actors are systematically involved in all legislative and policy development stages.
- Clarify mandates and coordination. Define clear roles and accountability mechanisms for new and existing digital governance bodies to prevent overlap, delays, and regulatory confusion, which is crucial for effective digital regulation and its implementation.
- Support local media. Provide financial, legal, and operational backing to ensure media pluralism and representation of all voices in society.
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
Regulatory Progress, Systemic Risks
The findings point to a core tension: the impact of digital media and platform regulation depends heavily on context, and in environments marked by institutional weakness and politicised implementation, such as Montenegro, poorly designed rules can undermine the digital information ecosystem.
Despite progress in alignment with the EU acquis, including reforms to the Law on Audiovisual Media Services and the AVMS Agency, risks persist due to political influence, limited regulatory capacity, and an economically fragile, polarised media market, with continued concerns over non-transparent state advertising and politicised public broadcasting appointments.
These vulnerabilities are compounded by gaps in the broader digital regulation framework. While steps have been taken to align with EU digital rules, transposition remains uncertain and institutionally fragile.
The pressure on the independence of the regulator—highlighted by delays in appointing members to the Regulatory Authority—poses a direct risk to effective enforcement and conflicts with key EU and international standards requiring regulatory independence and accountability. This weakens the credibility of oversight mechanisms and increases the likelihood of politicised or inconsistent application of rules.
In parallel, the lack of a comprehensive and enforceable framework for artificial intelligence and data protection creates a significant regulatory vacuum. Existing initiatives remain largely declarative, with no operational structures to ensure alignment with human rights, democratic standards, or data protection obligations.
The delayed enforcement of a GDPR-aligned framework further undermines the country’s ability to govern digital systems effectively. This creates a risk that emerging technologies, particularly AI, will entrench existing governance failures—replicating opacity, weak accountability, and limited oversight—rather than contributing to transparency or institutional resilience.
Looking ahead, Montenegro’s regulatory trajectory is likely to remain shaped by the tension between formal EU alignment and domestic political constraints. While further legislative progress is expected, especially in media and data protection, risks of political interference, institutional instability, and fragmented implementation will persist. The operationalisation of key institutions, including the regulator and the cybersecurity agency, alongside meaningful stakeholder participation, will be decisive.
Without stronger multistakeholder engagement and institutional safeguards, regulatory changes risk remaining formalistic and vulnerable to reversal.
From Risk to Action: Priorities
Confronting these interconnected risks and bolstering media freedom, digital rights, and democratic governance calls for the following priority measures:
- Ensure AVMS Agency independence. Restore a transparent, merit-based Council appointment process and protect institutional autonomy from political interference, in line with Chapter 10, EMFA, and DSA requirements.
- Enforce before revising laws. Prioritise consistent implementation before amending newly adopted media laws – to safeguard legal certainty and system predictability.
- Resource implementation and democratic participation. Allocate funding, provide operational guidance to authorities responsible for the implementation and enforcement of digital platform regulation, implementation, and enforcement.
- Fully operationalise institutions. Staff and resource the AVMS regulator and the Agency for Information Security in line with mandates, eliminating vacancies, delays, and political blockages.
- Embed human rights in digital frameworks. Ensure that data processing and cybersecurity include legal safeguards, anti-discrimination and gender equality principles, redress mechanisms, and alignment with international privacy and freedom of expression standards.
- Protect the integrity of CSO participation. Ensure that working group input is respected, inclusion and gender equality are prioritised, and post-approval draft changes are subject to renewed consultation. This would prevent ad hoc amendments and reinforce trust in the legislative process and legal certainty in the media regulatory framework.
- Deliver on DSA commitments. Activate the working group, publish the roadmap, and enable meaningful stakeholder engagement—backed by time and resources—on cooperation with digital platforms, enforcement, and Digital Services Coordinators, aligning accession pace with institutional readiness.
- Strengthen local implementation. Provide guidance, funding, and technical support to non-state actors and local media to ensure equal reform application, with attention to gender representation and inclusion.
Digital Governance Risk 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.
Montenegro: Risk Assessment of the Regulation of Digital Platforms and Media in the Digital Environment [in Montenegrin]
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.
