We call for an urgent investigation into the series of online attacks against “Sloboden Pechat”

The Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) reacts to the repeated coordinated bot attacks targeting the official Instagram profiles of the media outlet “Sloboden Pechat,” the latest two of which occurred within the past 48 hours, including the attack this morning.

According to available information, within just a few minutes, thousands of suspicious accounts mostly from abroad engaged en masse by liking posts on the Instagram profiles of Sloboden Pechat, indicating organized and malicious activity aimed at undermining the outlet’s digital integrity.

These incidents are not isolated but are part of a series of repeated attacks over the past five months, pointing to a clear and concerning pattern of systematic digital harassment and pressure against a media outlet. Such attacks represent a serious threat to media freedom, their independence, and the public’s right to be informed.

It is particularly concerning that the platform “Meta,” which owns Instagram, does not provide effective mechanisms to protect public media profiles from such types of attacks. Recommendations to “lock” profiles are unacceptable for media outlets, as this directly limits their reach, transparency, and role in serving the public interest.

Therefore, we expect the Ministry of Interior and the Sector for Computer Crime and Digital Forensics to act urgently, investigate these attacks, determine their origin, and take appropriate measures to sanction those responsible.

At the same time, we call on the competent institutions to develop systemic mechanisms for protecting media from digital attacks, as well as to strengthen cooperation with international technology companies in order to prevent such abuses.

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