An investigation published by Serbian weekly Vreme has identified a network of 1,241 accounts linked to employees at 231 public institutions in Serbia who allegedly carried out online propaganda tasks in support of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) during working hours, prompting calls for investigations into the possible misuse of public resources.
The findings, reported by Danas, are based on data from the SNS-linked platform progress.rs, which was made searchable through the website ocisti.net. According to the analysis, 94 percent of recorded activities through accounts associated with public institutions between 2022 and 2024 took place during typical working hours, between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Institutions appearing in the database include the Serbian National Assembly, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Labour, state-owned power company Elektroprivreda Srbije, the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund, and the National Employment Service. The database also reportedly includes social media accounts belonging to some members of parliament.
The investigation, which used artificial intelligence tools to help analyze the data, describes a coordinated system in which participants allegedly received instructions to post messages, like and share content, and comment on news websites. The network reportedly operated with coordinators, shifts, detailed guidelines and a points-based system. The website ocisti.net also claims that software known as Voter can automatically generate likes through fake accounts.
The findings have prompted political figures, civil society representatives and legal experts to question whether public employees and state-funded institutions were used to support party campaigning at taxpayers’ expense.
Critics call for investigations
Dragan Milić, founder of the Movement for the Decentralization of Serbia (PODES), argued that the network was likely larger than the 231 institutions identified in the analysis. He accused the ruling party of using public institutions and resources to strengthen its political position and undermine its critics.
Milić alleged that online accounts were deployed to attack individuals and publications critical of the government, while presenting an artificial impression of widespread public support for the SNS. He also claimed that participation in the online campaign could help employees retain public-sector jobs and receive additional payments.
Tamara Milenković Kerković, a university professor and independent member of the Niš City Assembly, said the findings echoed earlier revelations about alleged online propaganda networks ahead of Serbia’s 2023 parliamentary elections. She recalled reports identifying more than 2,000 accounts in southern Serbia, some allegedly operated by public-sector employees.
Milenković Kerković estimated that Serbian taxpayers spend approximately €18 million annually on salaries for people whose primary duties involve online commenting, liking posts and running internet campaigns for the ruling party. She argued that using public employees and public resources for party propaganda could constitute corruption and called for new criminal offences covering the misuse of public resources for political propaganda and political coercion in the public sector.
She also advocated reforms to employment legislation, stronger protection for whistleblowers, restrictions on party software operating on state networks, a register of public employees and changes to the Anti-Corruption Agency.
Civic and anti-corruption activist Danijel Dašić said the findings raised further questions about politically connected employment in public institutions. He also referred to recent disclosures concerning the alleged SNS online network and other reported leaks, arguing that voters should scrutinize the political system ahead of Serbia’s October 25 elections.
Milan Zirojević, editor-in-chief of Južne vesti, said the alleged network had been used to manipulate public opinion and target political opponents while participants were being paid with public money. He argued that employees’ time and resources could instead have been used to provide services to citizens.
Experts say public resources may have been misused
Zlatko Minić of Transparency Serbia said the allegations were not entirely new. He recalled that Meta announced in early 2023 that it had removed 5,300 Facebook accounts and more than 1,000 Instagram accounts in Serbia as part of action against coordinated inauthentic activity.
According to Minić, the company’s findings indicated that some accounts were operated from computers in public-sector workplaces. Transparency Serbia had called on the Anti-Corruption Agency to investigate the matter and obtain further information from Meta and the SNS, but, he said, no meaningful action followed.
Minić stressed that political supporters posting content in their own time or from party offices was not inherently unlawful. The situation was different, he argued, if public employees or staff at state-owned companies were carrying out party tasks during working hours using public resources.
He said the latest database could provide a more concrete basis for an investigation and urged the relevant authorities to examine the allegations.
Lawyer Vladimir Terzić similarly argued that the findings suggested the possible existence of an organized system involving public employees, coordinators and supervisors. He said investigators should determine who established and financed the network, who issued instructions and whether public institutions had been systematically used to benefit a political party.
Terzić alleged that employees paid from public funds could have received salaries for work not performed, while the SNS potentially benefited from the appearance of greater public support. He called for prosecutors to examine whether the reported activities could meet the legal criteria for organized criminal activity.
These are allegations and legal interpretations cited by Danas; the supplied report does not establish that a court has found the people identified in the database guilty of criminal offences.
Calls for professionalization of public administration
Nikola Jovanović, founder of the Centre for Local Self-Government, said stronger professional standards in municipal administrations and public utilities were necessary to prevent the use of public-sector employment for party activity.
He proposed independent internal audits, stronger internal controls and restrictions on future public-sector employment for people found to have carried out party activities during working hours or with public resources.
Jovanović also argued that public institutions had become a source of employment for party activists and coordinators. Citing a preliminary analysis by his organization, he claimed that in some institutions and public companies, as much as 40 percent of staff may have been recruited because of links to one of the governing parties rather than their professional qualifications. That estimate was not independently substantiated in the supplied report.
The controversy has renewed debate over the separation of state institutions from political parties, the use of public funds for campaigning and the responsibility of Serbia’s anti-corruption bodies and prosecutors to investigate alleged abuses.
