The tactic of intimidating critics through constant and personal attacks is aimed at increasing the cost of public engagement of those who wish to criticize the government and thus discipline the public space. This method uses anonymous profiles to hide your hand and to remove political and legal responsibility.
"You Bulgarian, scythe is what you deserve", through this comment on the social network Facebook the deputy of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Avdullah Hoti, was threatened by Reshat Sadiku, a Kosovar with German citizenship.
The Prosecutor's Office in Pristina had filed an indictment against Sadik, sentencing him to 4 months in prison that the court converted then into a fine of 2,000 euros. Meanwhile, while the Sadiku session was being held, he was willing to kneel before the Hoti and apologize for his action.
"I really kneel before you, because I am not that kind of person", he declared, continuing to tell them begged Hoti apologetically. "I didn't use the Internet much and I didn't delete it the comment. For the threat, I apologize publicly with all my heart." The case of deputy Hoti is not the only one. Threatening, derogatory, contemptuous and offensive comments are a daily thing that are directed to anyone who expresses a thought or opinion as a critique regarding political developments and which mainly the supporters of the government do not like.
The same thing happened to the civil society activist, Agon Maliqi, when he expressed his thoughts through social networks regarding the political and social situation in Kosovo. However, Maliqi has been attacked more by fake profiles on social networks and from the bots (robot profiles that created through programming) that are mainly created by politicians, political parties and interest groups that try to suppress the opinion of someone who actively participates in public life with ideas and opinions.
"The tactic of intimidating critics through constant and personal attacks is aimed at increasing the cost of public engagement of those who wish to criticize the government and thus discipline the public space. This method uses anonymous profiles to hide your hand and to remove political and legal responsibility (given that defamation is used)", Maliqi explains, sharing his experience with comments on social networks. Maliqi believes that "anyone who engages publicly must be ready to be a subject of critique or even attacks". He considers this normal in any democracy, but, according to him, "when these attacks are orchestrated by a political address then does not only discouraging public engagement but it also raises many questions about the sincerity of the government's commitments to democracy".
Valon Kerolli, an expert in social networks, explains how the fake profiles that produce also comments are created, mainly against those who criticize the actions and decisions of governments. He has shown that in Kosovo "mainly political parties or interest groups use the services of the bots that are offered by various online websites, so without the need for knowledge of the programing itself, they simply pay for certain services of bots". These bots find wide use, explains Kerolli, from "voting in various political polls that media set on their pages in social networks, to commenting positively on messages about their political subject/leader and also to insult, offend and criticize opponents or those who have a different opinion".
In many cases, these comments are used to discourage those who have a critical voice and who share opinions aimed at increasing the public responsibility of the elected. These comments did not discourage Maliqi, because "this would mean allowing those who wish to suppress the right of expression to win"."Despite, this gives you even more inspiration for commitment. But I cannot deny that the crowd of digital thugs has created a certain psychological effect that every time I want to write something I expect personal attacks and there are times when you can even withdraw because you are busy with work and do not have time to deal with arguments that are produced", says Maliqi.
The professor of the University of Pristina who lectures in the Department of Journalism, Faton Ismajli, connects the unrest of these commentators on social networks to two causes, and according to him, the main one is the lack of legal and media education. "Since almost all people in Kosovo have access to the Internet, it will be difficult to eliminate all threatening and intimidating comments, but I have no doubt that through legal and media education, an effect on the large scale reduction of threatening and intimidating comments", he says.
Legal consequences for commenters who threaten on social networks
Maliqi says that he has been threatened several times on social networks for expressing his opinions, but that he has not contacted the police "despite that in some cases I have received direct threats". "First, I prefer to post those threats publicly or even report them on the respective platforms like x/twitter or Meta," he says. However, he does not rule out the possibility that in the future he will notify the law enforcement agencies. "In any case, this does not exclude the possibility in the future that I will present a serious threat to the police."
The Kosovo Police in their response via e-mail have shown general statistics of threats over the years. The statistics include all threats, not only through social networks. "In the following, you will find the required statistics for the total number (not only of social networks) of cases from the criminal act of intimidation, reported to the Kosovo Police. In 2022, 2,778; in 2023, 2,625 and in the first 3 months of 2024, 577 threats", is the response of the Kosovo Police. From the Basic Court in Prishtina, when we asked them about the punishments they imposed for threats on social networks, they answered "in the basic data of the Basic Court in Prishtina, there is no specific column related to cases regarding threats made in social network comments sections". Figures can be obtained from the Court "only when it has the personal data of the accused or the parties in the proceedings, so if you have any case where you can record it with first and last name, parent's name or with the number of the case, please send it to us so that we can identify these cases, therefore we can fulfill your request", says the answer.[GG1]
Regarding the legal consequences, Professor Ismajli says that there is little knowledge from the users of social networks that can carry those who threaten and use intimidating language on social networks. Commenting on social networks, according to Ismajli, "is public commenting and therefore carries public responsibility and consequences based on the Constitution and applicable laws in Kosovo". "Since social media is relatively new for the whole world and for Kosovo, a large number of users have no idea about the legal consequences they have when they threaten someone. They don't have it due to the fact that the justice system in Kosovo is not very efficient to pursue and punish all those people who call for violence, who threaten, or the ones who call for murder".
He clarifies that many people understand their discussions on social media as words that have no responsibility, "well, with the constitutional and legal regulations of Kosovo, anyone who threatens anyone is criminally responsible before the law". Ismajli explains that it is very important to make it clear to the users of social networks that "if you incite violence, you will face criminal consequences and you can end up in prison". "If racial, ethnic, religious, gender hatred is incited through comments, you still have criminal consequences and can be sentenced to prison. If you insult or slander someone, you may face civil suits, where the person you slandered can sue you and seek compensation. In this situation, everyone who has an account on social networks, even if it is not in his name, should not threaten anyone because the consequences are serious", he says.
Social network expert Kerolli says that the Kosovo Police can track people who threaten through social networks, because "security institutions have official channels of communication with social network companies or companies that offer hosting services". Kerolli says that the Police have the opportunity to request IP information from those who use those profiles or other information such as email addresses, phone numbers, or other information necessary to lead to the identification of the persons behind those profiles or bots. "But they also have the possibility to request the closure of those accounts if they present a threat to certain persons or the country", he says.
Based on the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, Article 181, threatening, even on social networks, is a criminal offense punishable from 6 months to 5 years, depending on the threat. Meanwhile, those who face defamation and insults with comments on social networks can file a lawsuit in Court based on the Civil Law Against Defamation and Insult, seeking compensation for material and non-material damage.
Digital army and the creation of the robotic profiles?
The rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament, Viola von Cramon, had also complained about the digital army, who had shared an article from "Balkan Insight" on her profile on the "X" platform, where comments criticizing her stance had flooded in. She rightly accused the ruling party, "Vetevendosjen", of having created a digital army. "Actually, VV's digital army limits freedom of speech. In Kosovo, former members of the ruling Vetëvendosje party have also confirmed the existence of a digital army tasked with spreading information, increasing digital presence and targeting opposing views," she wrote on the X social network.
Professor Ismajli confirms the position of the MEP, reinforcing with arguments that these comments "intend to silence critical voices". "When someone expresses a stance and is flooded with hundreds or thousands of comments, of course, no matter how well-argued the stance or the opinion may be, he or she may feel uncomfortable and chooses not to engage anymore, and this is the goal of these profiles. In fact, these people should be encouraged to continue expressing their views and disagreements, because this is how society and democracy develop", says Ismajli.
Ndërsa, Kerolli ka sqaruar se Botat krijohen nga persona apo kompani që kanë njohuri të programimit, kryesisht krijohen me gjuhët programuese si Python, Javascript apo PHP. Sipas tij, kostoja e krijimit të botave varet shumë nga lloji dhe funksioni që do të kryejnë “por nëse i marrim shembull botat që kryesisht bëjnë apo komentojnë në rrjete sociale kostoja e krijimit të tyre është shumë e ulët sepse shumica e rrjeteve sociale ofrojnë qasje në API të tyre që me pak njohuri të programimit mund të kryhen shërbime automatike me bota”. Profilet robotike dhe të vërteta, sipas Kerollit, është vështirë të dallohen dhe nga ata që kanë njohuri të thella të kësaj fushe. “Realisht në dukje të parë edhe profilet që menaxhohen manualisht por edhe ato që menaxhohen nga botat duken si profile normale dhe është shumë e vështirë për t’i dalluar se nga vijnë ato, zakonisht neve që merremi me hulumtimin e tyre i përcjellim se ku komentojnë dhe çfarë bëjnë ato profile dhe në bazë të aktivitetit të tyre mundemi qe pak a shumë ta kuptojmë se cilit subjekt apo grup interesi i përkasin”, thotë ai. Kerolli thotë se dihet adresa e saktë e këtyre profileve roboti “është shumë e vështirë përveç nëse është është në interes të institucioneve të sigurisë atëherë ata kanë mekanizma të cilat mund t’i përdorin për të arritur deri tek krijuesit e tyre”.
Përmes këtyre profileve robotike synohet përmbytja e narracionit ndaj mos punës së një qeverie, apo partie politike apo një grupi të interesit vlerëson profesor Ismajli. “Këto komente e këto profile i hasim shpesh kur situata politike apo ekonomike është më e ndjeshme dhe grupet e interesit i aktivizojnë në rastet kur ka shumë kritika për një veprim, që ta përmbysin narracionit dhe ta krijojnë përshtypjen se gjendja është ndryshe dhe ajo ashtu siç e përshkruan kritiku”. Sipas tij, në kohë fushate zgjedhore janë më të pranishme këto profile, por jo vetëm. “Kurdo që partitë politike apo grupet e interesit e vërejnë se ka rënie të besueshmërisë, apo ka lëkundje të besimit tek opinioni, i aktivizojnë profilet e rrejshme që të komentojnë”, thotë Ismajli. Kerolli thotë se botat vështirë se mund të mbyllen, kjo si shkak edhe i zhvillimit të inteligjencës artificiale.
Meanwhile, Kerolli explains that people create bots or companies who have knowledge of programming, and which are mainly created with programming languages such as Python, JavaScript or PHP create bots. According to him, the cost of creating bots depends a lot on the type and function they will perform "but if we take as an example the bots that mainly do or comment on social networks, the cost of their creation is very low because most social networks offer access to their API that with a little programming knowledge one can perform automatic services with bots". Robot and real profiles, according to Kerrolli, are difficult to distinguish even by those who have deep knowledge of this field. "Actually, at first glance, the profiles that are managed manually but also those that are managed by bots look like normal profiles and it is very difficult to distinguish where they come from, usually those of us who do researches on bots follow them where they comment and what do those profiles do, based on their activity through which we can more or less understand to which subject or interest group they belong to", he says. Kerolli says that knowing the exact address of these robot profiles "is very difficult unless it is in the interest of the security institutions, since they have mechanisms they can use to reach their creators".
Through these robotic profiles, the aim is to flood the narrative against the lack of results shown of a government, or political party or an interest group, Professor Ismajli assesses. "We often come across these comments and these profiles when the political or economic situation is more sensitive and interest groups activate them in cases where there is a lot of criticism for an action, to overturn the narrative and create the impression that the situation is different and it is as it is describes the critic". According to him, during the election campaign, these profiles are more present, but not only. "Whenever political parties or interest groups notice that there is a drop in credibility, or there is a wavering of trust in the public, they activate fake profiles to comment," says Ismajli. Kerolli says that the bots can hardly be turned off, and this also getting more difficult because of the development of artificial intelligence.
"Social networking companies often make announcements to shut down thousands/millions of fake accounts or those managed by trolls when they discover that they perform automated services, but the great development of artificial intelligence has made it very difficult to identify them because with the help of artificial intelligence, they are configured so that those bots perform functions similar to humans", says Kerolli. According to him, perhaps the most efficient way to fight for now is that of manually fighting those accounts or by blocking traffic on social networking sites from countries where the fake bots are from or profiles, that usually are bought on various Internet sites mainly coming from countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Indiana, Pakistan or Bangladesh.
Whereas Ismajli, despite the fact that there are many commentators who use threatening language, believes that, "there cannot be so many people with criminal potential in our society regardless of the language used in public comments and discussions". According to the data of the Statistics Agency of Kosovo (ASK), released in 2023, almost 99 percent of Kosovars have access to the Internet, while the most used social network is Facebook, followed by Instagram. According to KAS, the main reason why Kosovars use the Internet is for reading, entertainment, keeping in touch with family and society and commenting on the news.
[GG1]This can be rephrased shortly and differently.