Instagram accounts of independent media and organizations found themselves under a new wave of bot followers on October 20, five days before the elections. This is the second such wave since the beginning of the election campaign.
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On Tuesday, October 20, the account of the weekly "Vreme" was followed by more than 200 accounts in about half an hour (from 18:00 to 18:30), and the account of Beta in a few minutes by about 300. The same attacks that day were reported by CRTA, Kompas, Mašina, Cenzolovka, Glas Šumadije, Zbor Zvezdara, Autonomija Info, Razglas News, Voice and Radio 021.
Autonomija Info has announced that its profile has been followed by a large number of bot accounts, that it has reported the problem to Meta and that, if the attack continues, it will switch the account to "private" until the danger passes.
CRTA invited followers to follow her backup account @nastranidemokratije, and Zbor Zvezdara temporarily locked the profile. The portal 021.rs was also attacked on Facebook, where it gained 57.000 new followers in a few days, while 22.000 disappeared at the same time.
According to previous experiences, the mechanism is such that applications are sent to a buried account at the same time, which temporarily blocks it, and the system can also limit it due to unrealistically fast growth in the number of followers. Beta estimates that this could make it impossible for her to communicate through that channel during the election.
This is the second wave of such attacks since the beginning of the election campaign in Serbia. PThe first wave began on September 26, and the SHARE Foundation states that since then more than 30 accounts have been targeted, so the list given by name is probably incomplete. Masina's Instagram profile was followed by about 10.000 suspicious accounts, and her backup account @masina.video was soon attacked.
The Kompas-info profile was followed by more than 1.500 accounts in 15 minutes, and the targets were Radar, 021, Forbes and local media.
Activist Jelena Riznić, photojournalist Gavrilo Andrić, influencers Brat Pelin and Veselen, Strahinja Ćalović, official accounts of Students in Blockade and FDU Students in Blockade, singer Ivana Peters and Women's Solidarity were also attacked.
Actor Ammar Mešić had his profile shut down in an earlier wave, and he claims to have received over 10.000 submissions, while SHARE's account began gaining hundreds of followers on September 29 after posting a call for follower data. NUNS warned that bot attacks threaten the public's right to be informed.
A similar case happened on August 26 with the Bez censure portal, whose account was suspended after several days of reports for alleged copyright infringement, which the editors claim are false and organized. The Instagram account of Student List holder Ilija Srdanović was blocked on September 20 and October 16, and he believes that it is probably a bot attack.
Instagram is an important channel to the audience for many independent media and organizations, so blocking accounts in the last week of the campaign can deprive them of communication with citizens when the demand for information is the highest. The media and government critics and independent observers are also targets, which journalist associations see as an attack on the public's right to be informed.
For influencers, Instagram profiles are the platform on which they work and make money, so their existence is threatened due to such attacks.
Solving the problem depends primarily on the platform, because applications are processed by Meta, the company that owns the Facebook and Instagram networks. It is important for the audience to know that sources of information are under pressure and to follow backup orders.
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Two unions of public services supported the request of FDU students for information about RTS employees, since claims appeared in the public that it was a request for "files". The students say they are looking for "public truth about public service."
Among those pardoned is the man who attacked a citizen who came to ask about the street in the office of the mayor of Kosjerić in April. The pardon applies only to one of the two offenses, and the injured party announces a constitutional appeal.
Before the constitutive session of the new convocation, consultations were held with representatives of all the lists that entered the Assembly. The student movement said in advance that they will not turn those talks into political agreements.
The rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, claims to Danas that he has been monitored for a year and a half and that he suspects that listening devices are in his office at the Rectorate, at the faculty, in his car and at home.
After the election defeat, Vučić is increasingly addressing his supporters via TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, where his posts receive hundreds of thousands of views.
At the moment when the institutions of the Republic are destroyed, when Vučić's octopus is still alive, when people are disgusted by the injustice and the stench left behind by the Essenes regime, we have, as Machiavelli said, only civic virtue as the fuel with which we can return to the beginning
The four independent members of REM are an example of perseverance and civic responsibility. Rodoljub Šabić even, upon leaving the premises of REM, after the sentencing of the Informer, experienced that the Essenes insulted him, hit him with their hands and feet. But that too will soon be over
Vučić pardoned the batterers and Dijana Hrkalović. The election winners should abolish the sultan's power that allows one man to run afoul of the entire judicial system
Interview: Branko Stamenković, public prosecutor of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office
A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
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