Rape and revenge porn: Serbian Telegram groups preying on women

‘They discovered everything’: Battle between Serbian activist Stasa Ivkovic and legal expert Jelena Drndarski – Copyright AFP Nicolas TUCAT

Mya PEJAKOVIC

It started with a warning: Telegram groups notorious for sharing banned sexual content had set their sights on student Stasa Ivkovic.

The groups were looking for intimate photos of Ivkovic and trying to obtain her personal information, according to an anonymous tip they received in 2021.

“They found out everything: my address, who my parents are and all my other personal information,” the founder of the Belgrade-based rights group Osnazene (or “Empowered Women”) told AFP.

She then received a daily flood of vulgar and insulting messages and comments on her social media accounts.

The episode began Ivkovic’s years-long descent into the dark corners of social media chat groups in Serbia, where members regularly share revenge porn, child pornography and other illegal images.

Ivkovic and two other women from Osnazene managed to infiltrate several Telegram groups and later revealed the methods used to share, purchase and request illegal content.

– Photos of sisters, mothers –

Osnazene published their findings in a report in June, claiming that an estimated 10,000 messages are sent daily through the groups they monitored in Serbia, with one of the largest groups boasting 70,000 members.

According to Ivkovic, members often use codes like “teen trade” or “-18” to search for child pornography.

Even more shocking is that “male family members, mainly sons, take photos of their mothers and sisters and then send them to these groups for rating, sharing and various other purposes,” Ivkovic said.

Also, photos shared online include upskirting photos and photos taken under women’s skirts on public transport.

“Women are literally not safe anywhere,” Ivkovic told AFP.

In one harrowing case, a video of a rape was shared in a Telegram group. The victim only found out about it when the video was shared across numerous chats.

The video later appeared on a porn website, but was quickly removed.

Serbia’s Commissioner for the Protection of Equality attributed the rise of these groups in the Balkan nation to “deep-rooted, traditional, patriarchal stereotypes about gender roles in families and communities, where women are seen as the property of men.”

– Telegram on trial –

The findings come as Telegram has come under increased scrutiny following the arrest of founder Pavel Durov in France last month.

Durov has been charged with multiple counts of failing to combat extremist and illegal content on the popular messaging app.

Telegram positions itself as a “neutral” alternative to US platforms, which have been criticized for their commercial exploitation of users’ personal data.

However, Telegram’s opponents regularly accuse the service of providing a digital marketplace where users can share extreme sexual images, disinformation and drug trafficking.

Serbia has a checkered history when it comes to encrypted apps.

A large-scale FBI-led undercover operation in 2021 targeting the Sky ECC app led to the arrest of a Serbian underworld kingpin. Accounts linked to the suspect posted photos of gang members dismembering corpses near the capital, Belgrade.

The rapid growth of illegal social media groups has been a persistent problem in Serbia in recent years.

Serbia’s Special Prosecution Office for High-Tech Crime did not respond to AFP’s questions about ongoing investigations into chat groups.

– Permanent damage –

However, authorities have been slow to act; according to a report by a local research agency, only 13 groups have been closed down by officials.

Activists like Ivkovic say the problem will only get worse as the government continues to show inaction.

Unlike neighboring Montenegro and Croatia, Serbia has no specific laws on sharing unauthorized recordings and disseminating pornographic content, including revenge porn.

Legal expert Jelena Drndarski said suspects in possession of child pornography can be prosecuted, but victims of revenge porn should file a civil case against the perpetrators, who are difficult to track down because they use anonymous profiles on platforms like Telegram.

From early 2011 to mid-April 2024, 717 people were charged with possession of child pornography and exploitation of minors, but only 408 of them were convicted. Most received a fine or a suspended sentence.

Belgrade’s Autonomous Women’s Center (AZC) has called for stricter laws against sharing unauthorized and illegal content, with a petition signed by tens of thousands of people.

But even with the new laws, life can be grim for victims, says Vanja Macanovic of AZC.

“These videos and photos remain online forever and victims live in fear that someone will see them again, restarting the cycle of violence,” Macanovic said.