By: Dr. Matevž Tomšič
The largest government party has become the target of an outrageous campaign. In fact, attacks against it have been coming one after another. Allegedly, troublemakers targeted both the Instagram profile of the Freedom Movement and the corresponding profile of its president and Prime Minister Robert Golob. Supposedly, this happened when numerous fake followers “invaded” the accounts and posted “inappropriate” things. Specifically, when asked whether they live more freely under the current government, they responded en masse with a decisive “no.” Therefore, the “Freedom” party decided to lock the comments. Freedom has its limits, does it not?
At this point, the party began spinning a narrative that it had been subjected to a cyberattack from abroad – and consequently, so had the government as a whole. Yes, you heard that right. A “foreign” enemy. With such rhetoric, one might get the impression that an aggression against Slovenia is being prepared, that hostile armoured units are massing at the borders, waiting to invade. But the Prime Minister later explained that domestic actors were behind it. The progressive public will, of course, immediately understand who that refers to.
But it turned out there was no elaborate conspiracy. In fact, the whole thing was orchestrated by one specific troublemaker – the one who goes by that very “artistic” name on social media. It was a web influencer named Aleksandar Repić, who until recently was not particularly known in media circles, but has more than one hundred thousand followers. He was the one who directed this crowd of followers against the government, the ruling party, and its president. So the story of a cyberattack is completely fabricated. Most of those who responded to the poll saying they do not live freely were not “fake profiles” at all, but real individuals who are simply dissatisfied with how the ruling authorities behave.
Nevertheless, Repić overnight became enemy number one of the ruling coalition. And sanctions followed. First, the police arrested him at the Brnik airport. Then his Instagram profile was shut down (though it was restored a few days later). Is it really believable that this is all just a coincidence? Very unlikely. The police were quick to insist that the arrest had nothing to do with Repić’s public activity and that there was no political background. But when something is denied so eagerly in advance, it raises doubts. Especially because the arrest was carried out in a very theatrical manner, using force (even though there was no need for it). And especially because we know how hard Golob worked to “depoliticise” the police (read: bring it under his control).
The “Freedom” party has one big problem with this influencer. They simply cannot link him to their political opponents, especially not to Janez Janša (no matter how hard they try). During Janša’s last government, Repić was a vocal critic of its measures, particularly those related to the COVID‑19 epidemic. This means he is not a right‑winger, let alone a “Janša supporter.” He likely has no firm political loyalties at all. But Golob’s government apparently irritates him even more than its predecessor. And discrediting him is very difficult. True, he has a criminal past. But he does not hide it in the slightest. His followers know exactly who he is.
The talk about various attacks on the ruling party’s online profiles, supposedly representing nothing less than a threat to national security (sic!), serves mainly to repair the damage caused by their increasingly numerous critics. What worries the ruling elite most is that many influencers and their followers fall into the category of politically unaffiliated individuals. These are people who do not follow traditional media and whom public opinion polls struggle to detect. But in a close election, they could become the decisive “tipping point.” Skilled electoral strategists should know how to take advantage of that.
