My Journey Through Online Harassment Amid Coverage of Kosovo-Serbia Tensions

As a journalist and photographer with over sixteen years of experience, I recently embarked on a new endeavour by joining Substack and gradually transferring my older articles from my blog. Little did I know that my involvement in observing and writing about the Kosovo-Serbia tensions would attract unwanted attention and subject me to a wave of online harassment.

Before delving into this tumultuous experience, it's important to note that I had limited exposure to social media in the past. As a result, my Twitter following was relatively small, comprising a few hundred individuals who may have stumbled upon my rare tweets or heard of my work. However, the dynamics changed drastically as I began shedding light on the shady darkness surrounding accountability in the Kosovo-Serbia context.

Curiously, my follower counts experienced extreme fluctuations. It would soar to 7,000 at times, only to descend rapidly following the publication of my articles or tweets about the tensions. Negative rep…