Kompas-info’s Instagram profile was followed by more than 1.500 accounts in just 15 minutes. Similar bot attacks were recorded in the previous days on the profiles of Masina, photojournalist Gavrilo Andrić and activist Jelena Riznić.
In the midst of cyber attacks on independent media and public figures on social networks, an Instagram profile was also targeted by an unusual wave of fake accounts. Compass-info, a media whose founders are the News Agency FoNet and Nedelnik Vreme. In addition to Kompas, numerous influencers are also targets of attacks.
On Monday, just after 23 p.m., Kompas followed more than 1.500 orders in just 15 minutes. The number of new followers continued to grow after that, reaching the figure of 9.000 accounts.
On the screenshots published by Kompas, you can see some of the accounts that followed the profile in a short period of time.
In addition to Kompas, during the night the accounts of several influencers Stahinja Ćalović, Miloš Milaković, Mara Ognjenović, Miša Aserić, Nikola Trajković, as well as actress Milena Radulović were attacked.
In the previous days, the Instagram profile of the Mašina.rs portal, as well as the accounts of photojournalist Gavrilo Andrić and activist and sociologist Jelena Riznić, were targeted by similar attacks.
Bot attacks lead to blocking
Such attacks can be a serious problem for social media accounts. An unnatural increase in the number of followers can be recognized by Instagram’s systems as an artificial increase in the audience, i.e. the use of bots and fake accounts.
According to the rules of Instagram, the detection of inauthentic activity can lead to the limitation of certain functions of the account, temporary blocking, and in severe cases, suspension.
A sudden increase in the number of followers in itself is not a reason for a sanction if it is a consequence of organic growth, such as viral content, but a problem can arise if the platform determines that the followers are fake or that they were obtained using illegal means.
Kompas therefore decided to lock the Instagram profile for preventive reasons.
Source: Vreme
