Political Information Warfare

Once upon a time, the internet was supposed to be a free, democratic utopia. Instead, it’s become a glorified panopticon run by Silicon Valley landlords where everyone’s shouting, no one’s listening, and half the “people” aren’t even real. Twitter: Where trolls go to war Serbian elections on Twitter looked less like democratic discourse and more like a pub brawl between colour-coded tribes. Add a few trolls, some anonymous hitmen-for-hashtags, and voila—you’ve got state-sanctioned smear campaigns wearing sock puppet accounts. ...

Welcome to Serbia’s digital political theatre, where every heroic rescue is staged, every dissenting meme vanishes mysteriously, and every comment section is a gladiator arena for astroturfed loyalists. It starts with a snowstorm, a suspiciously well-timed TV crew, and a future prime minister trying out for the role of Balkan Superman. The internet responds with mockery. The government responds with takedowns. Thus begins the SHARE Foundation’s journey documenting over 300 cases of digital shenanigans—think DDoS attacks, creepy surveillance, and disappearing videos—courtesy of state-sanctioned (or suspiciously adjacent) actors. ...