Tag: Trolls

Russian “troll farms” – organized online agitators identify complaints in other countries and then insert themselves in those debates in order to boost them. Instead of promoting a political ideology, professional Russian trolls focus on stirring up emotions over heated topics, such as gun control issues or immigration to the United States, to then turn Americans against Americans. The...

Bosnian journalist and blogger Mustafa Sejdinović caused a minor good will sensation in the post-Yugoslav part of the Balkans after he confessed to busting a Facebook group for Flat Earthers from the region. Sejdinović, who goes by the nickname Musa, explained how he infiltrated the group Ravna Zemlja / Flat Earth Balkan, devoted to promotion of flat-earth conspiracy theory, became...

Academician Katica Kulavkova, a member of the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences (MANU) caused uproar on social networks on June 6 by publishing a tweet promoting positions deemed nationalistic and chauvinistic by the public. Kulavkova (sometimes also written as Kjulavkova) used her Twitter profile to publish a tweet stating "The price of coexistence is paid with lives," which...

The network of magazines promoting the 'brand Russia' and Putin's image in the form of alternative medicine advice continues to operate in most states following the breakup of Yugoslavia. In April 2019, Meta.mk released an analysis indicating the impact of two magazine networks coming from Serbia, that are also distributed through direct exports to Bosnia and Montenegro and/or through local...

Nathaniel Gleicher, Head of Cyber-security Policy of Facebook announced that on October 30 this social media company has removed three networks composed of accounts, Pages and Groups for engaging in foreign interference — which is coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign actor — on Facebook and Instagram. They originated in Russia and targeted Madagascar, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte...

Daniela Rangelova, member of Parliament of Republic of North Macedonia from the right-wing populist party VMRO-DPMNE, confirmed the existence of the party’s troll army during a TV debate conducted by the “360 degrees” show on 8 November 2019 in Skopje. When asked about her communication with the current party leadership and their disagreement with some of her positions and...