ANEM ALARM: New large bot attack on Nova.rs, Radar, and Danas on Instagram
A new major bot attack on the Instagram accounts of Nova.rs and the weekly publication Radar was reported today to the Prosecutor's Office for High-Tech Crime by Veran Matić, the chairman of the Management Board of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), a member of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists, and an operator on the Safe Line for Journalists at 0800 100 115.
The attack began today at 4 PM, when both accounts gained approximately 20,000 new followers in a short period of time, and that number continues to rise.
Following the suspension of several Instagram profiles of Nova.rs, as well as the permanent suspension of the weekly publication Radar’s account, the company Meta responded to the complaints and reinstated these accounts. However, the controversial, evidently fake accounts that followed them have not been removed, resulting in a 190,000 increase in followers for Nova.rs over the month (currently 404,000 followers), while the number of followers for the weekly publication Radar has doubled to 210,000. It is practically impossible to remove these bot accounts "manually."
“The editorial teams of Nova.rs and the weekly publication Radar are continuously exposed to threats and attacks – via social media, by phone, and during the execution of journalistic tasks in the field. 'Bot attacks' represent yet another dangerous and sophisticated way to stifle the free journalistic voice, occurring at short intervals and clearly serving to intimidate the media,” stated Veran Matić.
ANEM calls on the relevant authorities to take all measures within their jurisdiction to identify the perpetrators and organizers of these attacks.
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)
The project "System for the Prevention of Violence and Protection of Journalists" is being implemented by ANEM in partnership with Insider TV and the Center for the Development of Local Media, with the support of the European Union.
The OSCE Mission in Serbia has supported ANEM’s project "24/7 SOS Helpline for Assistance to Journalists and Other Vulnerable Media Workers," as part of the EU-funded project "Strengthening Freedom of Expression and Media Freedom in Serbia."
