Trending: Serbias real life bots

Published: Feb. 7, 2024, 1:30 a.m.

Over the summer, a mysterious Twitter persona published details of over 14,500 social media accounts - all of them controlled by real-life Serbian citizens, it's claimed. They stand accused of posting\u2026 whatever the President\u2019s party tells them to.

It\u2019s long been rumoured that Serbia\u2019s ruling SNS party commands the online activity of a small army of citizens, dubbed \u2018bots\u2019 by the opposition. But this kind of list, naming and shaming thousands of ordinary Serbians, is unprecedented.

If true, their activity represents a form of political corruption according to Serbia\u2019s public prosecutor. The government\u2019s response has alarmed observers - it shrugged off the story, publishing instead a veiled tongue-in-cheek \u2018admission\u2019.

But who is behind the list, and can it be trusted? BBC Trending has analysed the data in an attempt to establish if the \u2018bots\u2019 are indeed real people. And whether their accounts show evidence of co-ordinated activity.

Featuring interviews gathered on the ground in Belgrade, we hear from opposition politicians, pro-democracy activists and a self-professed real-life \u2018bot\u2019. She tells us she trolled the President\u2019s opponents under threat of losing her job \u2013 as a receptionist at a state-controlled electricity company in a small Serbian town.

Reporter: Sam Judah