Ugly Twins: a novel type of attacks on local independent media in Serbia
Cenzolovka 30.07.2021
According to the analysis based on sources of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), at least three Serbian local outlets are attacked by fake websites with the likely objective to undermine both the trust in the media and their revenues. As the court claims it cannot react, the new weapon for attacking independent journalists also spreads to Kosovo and North Macedonia.
In addition to receiving perpetual online and direct threats sometimes coming from the representatives of the governing party and being physically attacked and smeared in the tabloid press, independent media in Serbia are now targeted in an entirely novel way: through registering their digital look-alikes. Since about a year ago, some of the most trusted online media, Južne Vesti, Ozonpress, and Kolubarske, have been attacked by their ugly twins, entire websites
