Balgarianovinite.com Reports of Threats and Attacks against Journalists in Serbia Must Be Investigated Impartially, Says Equality Commissioner
Regarding the recent attacks and pressure faced by journalists in Serbia, regardless of gender, Serbia’s Commissioner for the Protection of Equality Milan Antonijevic said that the work journalists do, as well as differences in opinion, editorial policies and reporting methods, can never justify discrimination, harassment, threats or any form of violence, Serbian public broadcaster RTS reported.
According to data from the nongovernmental organization Standing Working Group on the Safety of Journalists, more than 47 calls related to threats have been received on the Safe Line for Journalists since the beginning of January 2026.
Data from the Journalists’ Association of Serbia show that 2025 saw a drastic increase in all forms of threats against journalists.
Media associations also point to the frequent use of hate speech and discriminatory terminology in the media, as well as to the insufficiently effective response by the competent institutions.
“The Anti-Discrimination Act prohibits harassing and degrading behaviour aimed at violating dignity, that is, creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment, and the law also prohibits the dissemination of discrimination through public media, which is defined as a severe form of discrimination,” Antonijevic told RTS.
In addition to this law, Antonijevic recalled that the Law on Public Information and the Media protects individuals from defamation, insult, misrepresentation and other forms of violation of honour and reputation.
He stressed that journalists must have conditions to perform their work safely and without obstruction, while media outlets must bear responsibility for professional and responsible reporting, while respecting professional standards and the principle of equality.
The first month of 2026 has seen a new type of pressure on critical and professional media through so-called bot attacks on media Instagram accounts, the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) announced.
“It bodes nothing good if, in the very first month of the year, we are seeing such alarming statistics, especially in a year in which numerous local elections, and possibly early parliamentary elections, are expected in Serbia. We demand that the prosecution and the police urgently resolve all cases of attacks against journalists, identify and sanction the perpetrators, in order to send a clear message to the public that such cases are unacceptable in a democratic society. This is the only way to put a stop to this dark statistic,” said Veran Matic, Chair of the ANEM Board of Directors.
According to ANEM, accounts of organizations and individuals received thousands of new followers over short periods of time and in several waves, prompting Meta to flag the activity as suspicious and to suspend or permanently shut down the profiles.
ANEM recalled that, following several reports to Meta, the suspended accounts were restored, but the bot attacks continued. Local media outlets received two emails from an unknown address: the first threatened that their Instagram accounts would be shut down if they “write negatively about the president”, while the second claimed responsibility for the attacks and issued a new threat that something could happen to them if they continued reporting in that manner.
ANEM added that 2025 saw a record number of threats, pressure and attacks against media workers in Serbia’s recent history – at least 383 cases over 12 months, compared with 168 in 2024.
According to ANEM statistics, 134 cases related to attacks against journalists and media workers were opened by prosecutors’ offices in Serbia in 2025, with only three resulting in convictions. Reports of Threats and Attacks against Journalists in Serbia Must Be Investigated Impartially, Says Equality Commissioner 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-02-03 22:58:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law