HACKER ATTACKS ON KROKODIL’S WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA

16 Apr HACKER ATTACKS ON KROKODIL’S WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Dear friends, we want to inform you that KROKODIL’s online platforms were targeted by hacker attacks last week. This meant that our website, where we share all information about the activities of the KROKODIL Association and the events we organize, was nonfunctional for several days. Immediately after this attack, our Instagram account was also hijacked – someone posted completely inappropriate photos from our profile.

We responded right away and contacted IT specialists who helped us restore the platforms and further secure them against future attacks. In addition, a large number of our collaborators and friends offered support so we could find the best possible solution to this challenge. We thank them for that.

Still, it is important to reflect on the seriousness of this kind of attack. The goal of the hacker attack was to directly sabotage our activities, which by their very nature are aimed at the public in Serbia, its engagement and participation. Some of the recent activities we have been involved in include: raising funds for fellow citizens facing SLAPP lawsuits, restoring the monument of Branko Ćopić, and helping children in a kindergarten in Bucha (Ukraine) who urgently need assistance. The events we organize – whether translation workshops, public readings, support groups, presentations of our researches, work with youth, or awareness-raising about undue influences – are all impossible if our members and followers cannot communicate with us and/or find reliable information through our communication channels. 

KROKODIL’s activities are, without exception, based on the values of solidarity, anti-nationalism, anti-fascism, feminism, dialogue, inclusion, and equality. KROKODIL is dedicated to the production of literary, cultural and socio-political programs and projects with the aim of developing audiences among those that are interested in culture and politics as such. It is particularly engaged in promoting a culture of dialogue and reconciliation and the reconstruction of broken links, particularly in the region of the Western Balkans/Southeast Europe, as well as in deepening mutual understanding and acceptance of differences within the wider European and global context.

In the end, we sincerely believe in pacifism and the collective responsibility of every society, including ours. Sabotaging the communication channels of our association means sabotaging our activities and the promotion of these very ideas, which we strongly support.

The attacks on our online platforms must also be understood in the broader context of physical attacks on our offices, SLAPP lawsuits against our employees and activists, vandalism of monuments we erect, the sabotaging of memorialization of 30 years since the genocide in Srebrenica, eavesdropping on members of our association, the constant  appearance of hateful graffiti, and attempts to prevent the KROKODIL Festival 2025 from happening.

We invite you to continue following and supporting us with your attention, time, and active participation in the shared and ongoing struggle for a freer society. We are very proud of the network of solidarity and support that has developed around the KROKODIL Association over time, in Serbia, Europe, and beyond.

Thank you very much for that, because without you we would not be able to work and exist.