BHIGF 2025 (Bosnia and Herzegovina Internet Governance Forum / BH IGF) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

The sixth Bosnia and Herzegovina IGF met at the Swissotel Sarajevo on 3 November 2025 — the third consecutive edition since the 2023 revival, settling into an annual rhythm.
After UNESCO and OSCE keynotes, the agenda paired local IGF–network operator collaboration and journalist safety in the Balkans with disinformation, media literacy, and alignment with the EU's Digital Services Act.
The centre of gravity is shifting from cybersecurity crisis talk to EU-accession-minded institution building — and DSA readiness is homework shared by every EU candidate country.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on BHIGF 2025 (Bosnia and Herzegovina Internet Governance Forum / BH IGF) draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.

Conference at a Glance (from official records)

Item	Detail
Official name	BHIGF 2025 (Bosnia and Herzegovina Internet Governance Forum / BH IGF)
Edition	Sixth edition — the third consecutive year since the revival
Dates	3 November 2025, 09:00–14:00
Venue	Swissotel Sarajevo, Sarajevo
Theme	Regional governance themes
Supporters	The Internet Society, the Internet Society Foundation, RIPE NCC, the OSCE and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (per the official site)
Host	An organising committee centred on BIRN BiH (Detektor), with the official site also listing the citizens' association 'Zašto ne?' and the Content Moderation Coalition

(See the source list at the end of this article.)

Discussion Digest — from the Session Records

Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.

1. 'From Talk to Action' — Wiring Local IGFs into the Network Operator Community

Sessions: Panel 'From Talk to Action' on collaboration between local IGFs and network operators' groups (NOGs), tied to SDGs 9 and 11, with speakers including Desiree Milošević and Zoran Perović of the Serbian IXP SOX

The panel tackled a challenge common to the whole NRI movement: closing the gap between national IGFs as policy fora and the NOG communities that actually run the networks [1][2]
The discussion was framed around SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) and SDG 11 (sustainable cities), situating infrastructure work within the development agenda [1][2]

2. Journalist Safety — In an Age of Online Harassment and Surveillance

Sessions: Panel on journalist safety, with listed speakers including Maja Sever of the European Federation of Journalists

Online harassment, surveillance and threats against Balkan reporters headlined the panel — with the first-hand urgency of a forum organised by investigative outlet BIRN [1][2]
Prosecutors were among the listed speakers, putting the judicial response to online threats on the table [1][2]

3. Disinformation and Media Literacy — Repairing the Regional Media Environment

Sessions: Panel on disinformation in regional media

The panel surveyed disinformation across Balkan media and the counter-toolkit: media literacy, fact-checking and platform governance [1][2]
The agenda picked up directly from the previous year's conclusion about under-investment in media literacy — a sign of the forum's year-on-year continuity [1][2]

4. Aligning with the EU Digital Services Act — Regulatory and Institutional Readiness

Sessions: Session on digital regulation and DSA alignment

Sessions examined how ready BiH's legal and regulatory framework — and the institutions meant to enforce it — are for alignment with the EU's Digital Services Act [1]
For an EU candidate country, platform regulation is both a free-expression debate and part of the accession process, with cross-sector coordination flagged as the sticking point [1]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What kind of meeting was this?

A. Bosnia and Herzegovina's sixth national IGF — a third straight year since the revival. After UNESCO and OSCE keynotes it covered technical-community collaboration, journalist safety, disinformation and the EU's Digital Services Act.

Q. What was new this year?

A. DSA alignment. For an EU candidate country, platform regulation is both a free-speech question and an accession requirement, so the forum probed how ready BiH's laws and institutions actually are.

Q. Why should I care?

A. The DSA is reshaping platform regulation well beyond the EU's borders. Watching a small candidate country work through DSA readiness shows how Brussels' rules ripple outward — a dynamic that reaches every market, including yours.

What Is Bosnia IGF? (for first-time readers)

Bosnia IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.

Why It Matters to You

What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2025 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.