ELECTIONS 26: Truth in the Mirror

Photo: Zbor Narodni heroji Novi Sad

Week #03

In the week after Vučić’s resignation, almost every major event was told in two versions. Each stayed within the media outlets and feeds serving its intended audience, while the other audience barely encountered it.

The third week of election campaign monitoring covers September 28–October 4. A total of 30,540 articles were collected from 25 monitored online news outlets. On social media, 136,947 posts were analyzed from the feeds of ten simulated personas on TikTok, Instagram, and X.

That week, each side had its own case of violence against a woman. A Kreni-Promeni city councilor said the mayor of Belgrade had attacked her, while the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) claimed that a Students’ List supporter had hit one of its activists in Novi Sad. Both cases were told in two versions, with pro-government media giving more space to the one involving an SNS victim.

Week in Brief

In online media, the week began with the handover of duties on September 28, when Ana Brnabić became acting president and Vučić became the SNS candidate for prime minister. It ended with a rally at Belgrade Arena on October 3. In between, pro-government media covered the Šapić case through his defense and presented the Novi Sad incident as an attack by Students’ List supporters. The Students’ List rally in Novi Pazar, held on the same evening as the Arena rally, became “the other image of Serbia” the next day.

On social media, the Šapić case was the main story, except in pro-government users’ feeds. The Novi Sad incident circulated in two opposing versions, each within its own circle of like-minded users. The leading pro-government bot disappeared, and four days later an account with an almost identical name appeared and took its place.

The wave of bot accounts following Instagram users continued, a student internet radio station was taken offline by an attack for the second time in eight days, and two cases of manipulative content were recorded.In online media, the week belonged to Vučić and the electoral list. Vučić ranked first, while the list rose from ninth to second place. Victory jumped from 194th to 58th. Student ranked 247th, while the adjective studentski, meaning student-related, ranked 104th.

Words That Marked the Week

In online media, the week belonged to Vučić and the electoral list. Vučić ranked first, while the list rose from ninth to second place. Victory jumped from 194th to 58th. Student ranked 247th, while the adjective studentski, meaning student-related, ranked 104th.

On social media, the leading words after Serbia, Vučić, and students were woman, rally, and Šapić. Šapić was the 27th most frequent word on social media but did not appear among the top 300 words in online media. Across these four roundups, no finding has shown the gap between news sites and social media more clearly.

Media Overview

The Handover and the Arena Rally

Pro-government media presented the handover as constitutional and dignified, maintaining that message throughout the week. On his first day out of office, Vučić said he would now spend much more time with citizens. The campaign culminated in the Arena rally, featuring entertainment stars and reports of streams of people outside the venue.

The Šapić Case in Pro-Government Media

On the evening of September 28, Kreni-Promeni announced that Mayor Aleksandar Šapić had attacked its city councilor Tatjana Mićić in New Belgrade and broken her nose. Šapić claimed he had only pushed her away while defending himself from her husband.

SHARE Foundation’s analysis found that independent media followed the story for days. Pro-government outlets covered it from four angles. The first was Šapić’s defense. The second was Vučić’s response: he described the incident as a provocation but also said Šapić should have walked away and that the party would discuss his political responsibility. The third was the prosecutor’s office. Under the identical headline “The Third Prosecutor’s Office Reveals the Truth,” Republika and Kurir reported that Mićić had refused to submit evidence of her injuries. Two days later, they reported that Kreni-Promeni was targeting the prosecutor handling the case. The fourth was surveillance footage, which B92 said proved that Šapić had only been defending himself.

Futoška Market: One Incident, Two Versions

SNS and Students’ List supporters clashed near Futoška Market in Novi Sad on the evening of September 29. Independent media were the first to report the incident that evening, saying it began when SNS candidate Vukašin Đoković tried to seize a flag reading “Students Win.” In the pro-government version, “blockaders” attacked SNS supporters, and Srdanović provoked violence in which an SNS activist was punched in the head. At a press conference the next day, attended by the activist, Miloš Vučević accused Srdanović of personally leading the attack. Vučić said he would have gone after the attackers himself.

Coordinated Narratives: Novi Pazar, the Foreign Ministry, and CRTA

Novi Pazar and “two images of Serbia.” At the Students’ List rally in Novi Pazar on October 3, a banner in the crowd read “Srebrenica Is Genocide, Ratko Mladić Is a War Criminal.” Between 8:12 and 9:36 p.m., seven pro-government news sites, including Informer, Novosti, Kurir, and B92, reported the same story, mostly presenting the banner as the position of the entire list. The next morning, Novosti and Pink published articles with the identical headline “Two Images of Serbia,” describing Vučić as “uniting the people” at the Arena. Informer and Politika used the same framing.

The Foreign Ministry and voting abroad. The student movement sent an open letter to Serbia’s diplomatic and consular missions, asking them to confirm that applications from voters abroad had been processed. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the students’ voting guide as a malicious activity, while Minister Đurić called claims of obstruction a complete lie. A state institution thus entered into a direct confrontation with an electoral list during the campaign.

CRTA. On the final day of the week, Vučić described people working for the election monitoring organization CRTA as those paid the most by the EU.

Messages from the Authorities

• A constitutional handover and institutional continuity. This message appeared throughout the week, from the handover itself to statements by institutions, as reported by N1.
• Vučić among the people. Now out of office, the lead candidate visited villages and local celebrations, Tanjug and Pink reported.
• Protecting women from “blockader” violence. Last week’s message continued, now tied to the Novi Sad incident, as reported by Kurir, Informer, and Pink.
• The state delivers on its promises. Online applications for parent-caregiver status through the eGovernment portal, reported by Alo and Republika.
• Defense and state power. The first Rafale jets arriving from January 2028, reported by Tanjug, and a message from Kajmakčalan that Serbia has a strong military, reported by Pink.
• A choice between order and chaos. Voting for the list was presented as a defense against the return of those who governed during the pogrom and Montenegro’s independence, Novosti reported.

Messages from the Opposition

• International observers. Stefan Janjić asked Ana Brnabić whether she had invited the European Parliament to send an election observation mission, Danas and N1 reported.
• Voting abroad. European Serbia highlighted obstacles to voting and called for electronic voting, N1 and Nova reported.
• Attacks on students. European Serbia condemned an attack on a student in Kaluđerica, the second in twenty days, Danas and Insajder reported.
• Fiscal discipline. Dejan Šoškić of the Students’ List said that closing gaps in the budget would free up money to increase salaries and pensions, N1 and Danas reported.
• Serbia in European institutions. Zdravko Ponoš called for Serbia to take its place in the institutions where decisions about Europe are made, Insajder and Blic reported.
• A petition to remove Šapić. Residents of Konjarnik collected signatures, Nova and Danas reported.

Other Messages

• RTS. Some employees of public broadcaster RTS apologized to citizens for public statements made by news editor Bojana Mlađenović, Danas reported.

What was in the feed

Šapić in the Feeds

Outside the pro-government cluster, the Šapić case dominated X and Instagram, with posts sharing a medical report, a criminal complaint, and calls for his resignation. Pro-student posts also linked it to the previous week’s campaign about protecting women, with the message “This is the love for women that SNS promotes” (@ZboroviNS, X, September 29).

The pro-government feed was not uniform. Alongside reports of Šapić’s denial, posts claimed the incident was “staged from start to finish” (@nismoistiX, X, September 29) and that Kreni-Promeni supporters had “attacked” him. Posts by the movement itself from the Emergency Center also appeared.

Futoška Market in the Feeds

The two versions of the Novi Sad incident remained almost completely separate. The account of an attack on an SNS activist dominated the pro-government cluster, shared through the TikTok accounts of SNS and Miloš Vučević and anonymous political accounts on X. One claimed that “blockaders” had “now acted on” their threats against women (@LaziDetektor, X, September 30). The account of an SNS candidate attempting to seize a banner dominated the other social media feeds. It had reached the feeds first, on the evening of September 29 (@Radio021, X, September 29).

Who Was Speaking

In the pro-government cluster on Instagram, the official account @avucic and the SNS account returned to the ten most frequently appearing accounts, while Vučić’s old account, @buducnostsrbijeav, dropped out.

The account @klipperdanijelsrbi1, which had ranked second by frequency of appearance in the previous two weeks, was last seen on September 26. Four days later, @klipperdanijelsrbiizborne appeared with an almost identical name and immediately took the same second-place position. All three related accounts, including klipperdanijelsrbivesti, appeared exclusively in the pro-government persona’s feed. The same was true of the findings on these accounts in Weeks #01 and #02.

Visual Content

Pro-Government Cluster

The most frequently repeated image was a photo of the banner reading “Srebrenica Is Genocide, Ratko Mladić Is a War Criminal” at the Novi Pazar rally, accompanied by a reference to a “cult rally” (@partibrejk, X, October 4). It first appeared on X at 7:16 p.m. on October 3, before news sites picked it up. It was the only image that reached four different social media feed clusters that week.

A banner at the Students’ List rally in Novi Pazar.

Pro-Opposition Cluster

The most frequently repeated image was a graphic calling for Aleksandar Šapić’s immediate removal and criminal accountability (@zenskifront, Instagram, September 29). It was first posted on the night after the incident and was seen most often by pro-student personas, circulating through three clusters.

A call to remove the mayor of Belgrade.

Pro-Student Cluster

The most frequently repeated image was a call for 16 minutes of silence on October 1, marking 23 months since the canopy collapse in Novi Sad (@cuvarivatre, Instagram, October 1). The image also reached undecided personas.

A call for 16 minutes of silence.

Undecided Cluster

The most frequently repeated image featured Republika’s unconfirmed report that Vojislav Šešelj had been hospitalized with heart problems, accompanied by a mocking comment (@Tochkonja, X, September 30). Almost all appearances remained within this cluster.

An unconfirmed report about Šešelj’s health.

Meta Ads

Aleksandar Vučić has spent the most so far, with messages including “I Have Never Given Up the Fight for Our People” and “NATO? We Don’t Have It, but We Have Peace and Stability.” He is followed by SNS, the Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP), and Bálint Pásztor, whose ads are in Hungarian. The Students’ List has run a small number of ads, including a call for people to register as poll monitors and observers for October 25.

A post by the Vojvodina uživo page sharing Vučević’s claim that Srdanović had cheered while a woman was being hit (@vojvodinauzivo.rs, Instagram, September 30) used exactly the same text as an ad in the Meta Ad Library that ran only that day and only on Instagram. It was seen by two pro-government personas and one pro-student persona.

The SSP ad “Vučić’s Restaurant Closes on October 25” (@slobodapravda, Instagram, September 29) appeared in the feeds of almost all social media personas, across every cluster.

Rights and Freedoms in the Digital Environment

The wave of bot accounts following Instagram users, first recorded on September 26 on the accounts of Mašina and photojournalist Gavrilo Andrić, continued and spread further throughout the week. These included SHARE Foundation’s account, whose follower count rose from around 4,000 to around 15,000 in just a few days. Gavrilo Andrić and SHARE Foundation launched botijada.surf, where affected users can submit lists of accounts that followed them to help analyze the coordinated activity.

The website of student internet radio station Blok radio was taken offline on September 28 by an attack that overwhelmed its infrastructure, the station reported. This was the second attack on the station in eight days, following the September 21 incident.

On September 29, a manipulated video appeared on Facebook featuring a purported statement by former State Security Service member Zoran Stijović about the verdicts against Hashim Thaçi and the KLA. The video used footage from his appearance on TV Insajder. Stijović told KoSSev that he had never made those statements.

About Election Monitoring 2026

Monitoring of the digital space during the 2026 elections covers online media reporting, election campaigning on social media, and violations of digital rights and freedoms. Findings are published in weekly roundups throughout the election campaign.

We monitor content from 25 online media outlets in Serbia and the feeds of ten simulated personas on TikTok, Instagram, and X. Personas are assigned to clusters based on the content they actually receive each week, rather than a predetermined political position, so their cluster assignments can change from week to week.

Note on the use of AI tools: This report was prepared with the help of an AI chatbot for data processing and language editing. The authors and editors take full responsibility for the research, analysis, findings, and conclusions.