Veran Matić: The attack on media Instagram accounts is a clearly politically motivated action.

“A few days ago, a threatening email was sent to various addresses, including the daily newspaper Danas, addressed to anonymized accounts, in which it is stated that if the media receiving the message (Danas, N1, Nova.rs, and KTV from Zrenjanin) publish anything NEGATIVE about our president, they should forget about social media, as it will be shut down. ANEM has reported this threat to the Prosecutor's Office for High-Tech Crime,” reminds Matić.

He emphasizes that the relevant institutions must urgently respond and identify who is responsible for this hacking attack on the media and on freedom of expression, primarily the Prosecutor's Office for High-Tech Crime and the Ministry of Interior's High-Tech Crime Unit.

“In any case, this attack was announced, and it is necessary to determine whether the person who sent the announcement and then the second message claiming they executed the threat actually did so or if it was organized by someone else. Information dissemination in Serbia, as well as globally, has largely shifted from traditional media to social networks – Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, and Telegram. In addition to media with their extensions on social networks, we also have student accounts that are trusted. There are also youth and student media that naturally operate in social media environments and with which the authorities are trying to find ways to block,” explains Matić.

He believes this is clearly a politically motivated action and that sophisticated methods are being used to simulate violations of online platform rules and to shut down profiles without the need for physical intrusions into newsrooms, confiscation of equipment, etc.

“This is a demonstration of power and a warning of what media and others who use social networks and hold views different from the ruling ones can expect. The ruling party has already shown it has a vast network of bots and significant force, and it will certainly be maximally utilized in every possible way. If this is a demonstration exercise, then the media community needs to organize itself to react preventively and to hinder similar actions or make their execution more difficult,” he states.

Matić emphasizes the importance of noting that there is a genuine offensive by the authorities concerning the media sphere: The Center for Social Stability is establishing new media, primarily in areas where elections are upcoming, but it is expected that this will continue throughout Serbia.

“Informer is buying local TV stations, and they are all preparing to collect all the money from project co-financing… On the other hand, we have attacks on social networks. United Media is under constant pressure with the intent to change the editorial policies of N1, Nova, Danas, and Radar… There is a desire for complete media control because there is great fear of the student list and the upcoming elections. And not just the election results, but everything that will follow,” concludes Matić.

Source: Danas