Cyberattacks and disinformation against Serbian media

Independent media outlets in Serbia are facing a series of coordinated digital attacks and disinformation tactics. The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) has reported that outlets like VranjeNews have been targeted by cyberattacks that prevent the publication of new content, alongside threats of physical violence against staff.

Disinformation efforts include the creation of cloned websites that impersonate professional news organizations such as N1 and Vreme. These fraudulent portals use similar domains to scrape legitimate content and mix it with tabloid material, which ANEM describes as a mechanism for political control intended to confuse the public during pre-election periods.

Furthermore, media organizations are experiencing coordinated bot attacks on social media platforms. These attacks involve massive influxes of fake followers designed to trigger automatic account suspensions for ‘inauthentic behavior.’ Local media have also reported direct cyberattacks involving unauthorized file uploads, altered access credentials, and the distribution of malicious links.