Who is standing behind the social networks profiles exclusively devoted to attacking opposition politicians and the media that are critical towards the government? Anonymity on the Internet makes finding an answer to this question impossible while simultaneously increasing the number of pages dedicated to fake news and hate speech campaigns.

Veran Matic, chairman of the Commission for Investigating Murders of Journalists, spoke for Prva TV in Belgrade on Monday morning about the arrest of Dragoljub Simonovic.

Dragoljub Simonovic, mayor of Grocka municipality and senior official of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) is suspected of ordering a fire to be started on the property of Milan Jovanovic, a journalist of the local Zig Info website. The arson attack happened on December 12, 2018.

The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) and the Association of Journalists of Kosovo and Metohija (DNKiM) again urge Pristina to stop restricting the rights of the Serbian people in Kosovo to the information on their mother tongue and to urgently ensure unhindered distribution of the print media. These associations point out that, unlike other products, print media on the market are irreplaceable goods, especially given the fact that no daily or weekly newspaper in the Serbian language is printed in Kosovo, reports Serbian media in Kosovo.

During the visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to Kosovo, journalists passed the worst, as three press teams from Serbia were the target of the attacks, that is, the incidents, writes Belgrade based daily Danas and quotes the statement by Deutsche Welle (DW) journalist, Sanja Kljajic, who said that it all seemed like journalists were accounted for in advance as collateral damage.

Kosovo journalist Parim Olluri has been called a Serbian spy – and worse – on social media after he published an article criticizing the government's offer to award relatives of ethnic Albanians convicted of involvment in the 2015 gunbattle in Kumanovo, Macedonia.

The freedom of the press the West Balkans is incomplete, the European Parliament's research service said in a report, Beta reported.

The states of the region have faced politicization, problems in the implementation of law and intimidation of journalists, together with growing self-censorship, the report said.

NUNS, UNS and the Nezavisnost media branch trade union are urging media to stop broadcasting Wednesday within the "Five minutes of thunderous silence" campaign.

In separate statements, the journalist associations said the traditional campaign is a warning to the public about the never-worst position of the journalistic profession in Serbia.

Reporters Without Borders' latest World Press Freedom Index says media freedoms are diminishing in several Balkan countries, with Croatia and Serbia registering the worst declines over the past year.

Only 52 percent of journalists are completely certain that the Kosovo Constitution guarantees them the right of expression, concluded the report “Media Index 2015” drafted by “Kosovo 2.0”, “Cohu” and the Kosovo Press Media Council. The study interviewed 175 journalists and identified 27 indicators used for assessing the freedom of expression, information and the freedom of the media in Kosovo. The study claims that 86 percent of journalists strongly believe that there are individuals linked directly or indirectly to political parties who also control the media.

Association of Journalists of Kosovo and Metohija strongly condemn attack on a journalist of TV Klan Kosova, Milot Hasimja and call on authorities to protect the profession.

Serbian journalists, members of this society, appealed to the international community and security structures to stand for the journalistic profession in Kosovo.