Online Influence Operations. The Case of the Serbian Regime’s Cyber Troops

Abstract

The article focuses on the misuse of digital technologies for the purpose of spreading political influence in the online public sphere in Serbia. When such misuse results from regime-directed, coordinated, and organised efforts to suppress the voices of suspected “state enemies”, it can be described as digital authoritarianism – an assemblage of authoritarian practices undertaken by multiple actors with the help of digital technologies. The author understands online influence operations as one of the most direct manifestations of digital authoritarianism. In this regard, hybrid regimes are particularly intriguing, as they rely on subtler mechanisms of control over the online public sphere than those employed by full-scale authoritarian regimes. Serbia provides a useful case for studying how hybrid regimes use digital technologies to exert political influence over the national online public sphere.