Record January in terms of the number of cases reported to prosecutors for attacks on journalists.

As a reminder, in January 2025, six cases were initiated due to threats and attacks on media representatives, which is three times fewer than the number of reports in January of this year.

The first month of the year was marked by a new form of pressure on critical and professional media through so-called bot attacks on Instagram accounts. Specifically, through an organized action, media profiles such as Nova.rs, Nova S, N1, Danas, Radar, Zoomer, KTV Zrenjanin, Autonomija, Voice, Zona Plus, as well as the accounts of organizations and individuals, received thousands of new followers in a short time period and in multiple waves, with the intent for Meta to register these as suspicious activities and suspend or permanently disable those profiles. After several reports to Meta, the accounts that were "punished" in this way were restored, while the bot attacks continued.

In this case, media representatives received two emails from an unknown address – the first threatening that their Instagram accounts would be disabled if they "wrote negatively about the president," followed by an email claiming responsibility for the attacks along with a new threat regarding what would happen if they continued to write in that manner.

A total of six reports were submitted to the Prosecutor's Office for High-Tech Crime concerning 23 different attacks on media on Instagram. The same prosecutor's office and the Department for High-Tech Crime within the Ministry of Interior also received a report during the same month regarding a fraudulent website abusing the name and credibility of Brankica Stanković and Insajder. After several days, the prosecutor's office managed to shut down this domain while continuing the investigation.

Through the Safe Line for reporting threats to journalists' safety and contact points at ANEM, threats, attacks, and disruptions to the work of journalists and editorial offices were registered, including those of Danas, Radio Free Europe, Insajder, Tabloid, Radar, N1, Blokada Info, snews.rs, Goran Jevremović, Marko Dragoslavić, Marko Vidojković, Igor Velić, Luka Pešić...

ANEM reminds that in 2025, according to the database of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), a record number of threats, pressures, and attacks on media workers was recorded in the recent history of Serbia – at least 383 in 12 months, compared to 168 in 2024.

Similar trends are indicated by data from the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office. According to their statistics, 134 cases related to attacks on journalists and media workers were initiated in public prosecutor's offices in Serbia during the previous year, with only three resulting in convictions. This is a record number of cases opened in prosecutor's offices in the last ten years since statistics have been kept. From 2016 until the end of last year, a total of 724 cases were opened, of which only 10 percent (79 cases) resulted in a conviction.

In 2024, 65 cases were recorded with one conviction; in 2023, there were 76 cases and as many as 12 convictions, while in 2022, there were also 12 such convictions out of 87 cases, according to data from the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office.

“Judging by the data from January so far, it can be assessed that the negative trend of endangering the safety of journalists, female journalists, media workers, and media has escalated at the beginning of the year. Attacks on media accounts on Instagram are an attempt to limit the space for freedom on the internet. It does not bode well if we have such a disheartening statistic in the first month of the year, especially in a year when numerous local and announced parliamentary elections are expected in Serbia. We demand that the prosecutor's offices and police urgently resolve all cases of attacks on journalists, identify and sanction the perpetrators in order to send a clear message to the public that such cases are unacceptable in a democratic society. Only in this way can we put a stop to this grim statistic,” stated Veran Matić.

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 Insajder 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 Hotline for Help for Journalists and Other At-Risk Media Workers" as part of the EU-funded project "Strengthening Freedom of Expression and Media Freedom in Serbia."