Sunday’s snap December 17 parliamentary local elections caps a tumultuous year in Serbia. Two unprecedented mass shootings in May sent shockwaves across the country. Ensuing protests brought tens of thousands of people into the streets of the capital, demanding the resignation of key government officials who had facilitated the spread of violent and hateful content.
The election campaign has raised important questions about the country’s future course. Under the present leadership, Serbia has failed to impose sanctions on Russia, cooled its movement toward potential European Union membership, and raised tensions with Kosovo. These divisive issues fuel the government’s strategy of “information chaos,” an explosive combination of online disinformation, harassment, and legal intimidation. Pro-government tabloids operate as leaflets for the ruling party, often amplifying Twitter bots in their reporting as “voices of the people.”
Widespread efforts on social media attempt to sway public opinion in Serbia. In late 2022, Meta announced that it dismantled a network of more than 5,000 accounts disseminating information in support of the ruling party. In 2020, Twitter, now known as X, removed 8,500 accounts that discredited opposition politicians and parties. Earlier this year, a list of bot accounts containing the names and hometowns of more than 14,000 pro-government Twitter users was leaked. The government confirmed the list’s authenticity and launched a counter-campaign, praising the use of bots across social media. The ruling party’s increasing reliance on bots raises concerns about the authenticity of social media posts.
Journalists and critics of the Serbian government or powerful private companies, which are often affiliated with the government, face severe harassment and intimidation. A day after President Vučić suggested opposition leader and current MP candidate Đorđe Miketić should stop criticizing the government, an intimate video of Miketić was leaked to social media and state television. Miketić had previously reported that his laptop and hard drives were stolen from his home in a 2022 break-in.
Independent online outlets face legal intimidation, which could muzzle critical reporting. KRIK, one of the country’s most prominent investigative news outlets in Serbia, has faced at least 13 lawsuits for a range of articles challenging powerful politicians and businesspeople, the most recent lodged by the pro-government tabloid Kurir. This legal harassment comes as new media laws allow the government to indirectly create and own media outlets through the majority government-owned telecom provider Telekom Srbija.
Outright government surveillance represents another threat. A recent report from Access Now, SHARE Foundation, The University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, and Amnesty International confirmed that two civil society leaders had their phones breached in an attack resembling tactics used by the infamous Pegasus spyware. Though the researchers could not conclusively link the attack to the government, Google’s Threat Analysis Group previously found the government was a likely client of the spyware vendor Cytrox. The documented use of spyware against civil society could further online harassment and incentivize self-censorship.
As Serbian voters go to the polls, disinformation campaigns, severe online harassment, and legal intimidation are drowning out critical voices and opposing narratives. The strategy of “information chaos” deserves deep analysis and the international community should be clear-eyed about Serbia’s degrading online environment.
Mila Bajić is the research lead at SHARE Foundation, a Belgrade-based organization committed to advancing human rights online. Grant Baker is a research analyst on Freedom House’s technology and democracy team.
Bandwidth is CEPA’s online journal dedicated to advancing transatlantic cooperation on tech policy. All opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.
The post “Information Chaos” Plagues Serbia Elections appeared first on CEPA.
