Newly created profiles with few followers and minimal posts have, in a coordinated and short-term operation, started following independent media outlets and NGOs in Serbia. Following this “artificial follower surge,” many media and NGO accounts were temporarily suspended or closed by the platform.
Analysis by Radio Free Europe indicates that these were fake followers (bots). Journalist associations and civil society organizations suspect a deliberate action aimed at limiting the reach of media outlets not aligned with the government.
On January 18, Instagram suspended or closed accounts of over twenty media outlets, organizations, and individuals in Serbia after detecting an unusually rapid increase in followers. Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, classifies such activity as “suspicious,” which automatically triggers penalties on the accounts.
“This is unprecedented, as many accounts were affected simultaneously from media and photojournalists to NGOs and activists,” said Bojan Perkov from the Share Foundation, which deals with digital security. He emphasized that Meta moderates content mostly through algorithms, often penalizing accounts that do not actually violate rules.
Most of the accounts suspended on January 18 were reactivated the following day without any official explanation. Neither Meta nor the High-Tech Crime Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed whether an investigation is underway.
Ongoing Bot Attacks
Prior to the synchronized suspensions, some media outlets had publicly reported bot attacks characterized by sudden surges in followers within hours. For example, the portal “Nova S” gained over 40,000 followers in a single day on January 10 without viral content or increased engagement, only to lose 25,000 followers the next day.
Similar surges were observed on Instagram accounts of weekly “Radar,” TV channels Nova S and N1, and youth portal Zoomer. RFE analysis shows these follower profiles are typical bots: newly created, no followers, and only active on the day they were created.
Significant increases were also noted on student organization accounts, which have organized faculty blockades and protests against the government since late 2024. The “Students in Blockade” profile nearly tripled its followers, from 400,000 to around one million, and has faced previous temporary suspensions.
Non-Transparent Rules and Reactions
Not all suspended accounts had unusual follower activity. For instance, the CRTA organization’s profile showed no suspicious activity. Its representative, Jovana Gjurbabiq, reported that the account was suspended without warning and restored a day later, again without explanation.
Journalist associations condemned the wave of suspensions. ANEM called it a “coordinated action to silence independent media,” while the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina described it as “digital sabotage” against critical media.
According to the Council of Europe, Serbia had the highest number of attacks on journalists in the Western Balkans in 2025. Meanwhile, the Freedom House report from February 2025 ranks Serbia among countries with the sharpest decline in freedoms in the last decade, highlighting increased media control and pressure on journalists.
