Death threats, insults, "I know where you live" and "I know where your parents live" - these are the messages that greeted the Serbian tennis player Natalija Stevanović on Instagram after the lost match at the tournament in Mexico.
She received hundreds of similar messages before, but this time they were particularly "serious and threatening", so she decided to share them with her followers on that social platform, the athlete from Nis told the BBC in Serbian.
She was particularly worried that this time the messages from the same accounts were repeated, which was not the case before, she adds.
"The first thing I thought was that someone could knock on my door tomorrow - you never know people, I don't know if a defeat or even a victory of mine will bother someone.
"I can't say that I really fear for my own safety, but it's not pleasant," she says.
The 29-year-old tennis player's career peaked at this year's Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament, when she reached the 3rd round of the main draw.
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Death threats via the Internet are a criminal offense under The Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia for which the perpetrators can receive a prison sentence of varying duration, says Branko Stamenković, special prosecutor for high-tech crime and president of the High Prosecution Council, for the BBC in Serbian.
"In most cases, death threats via social networks can be qualified as a criminal offense of endangering security, for which, depending on the number and certain characteristics of the victims, it is possible to impose prison sentences of one to five years.
"In a certain number of cases, the criminal offense of persecution can also be committed, for which, depending on the consequences, it is possible to impose a sentence of three to 10 years in prison," explains Stamenković.
What happened?
The Serbian tennis player competed in the qualifiers for the VTA tournament in Guadalajara, and ended her participation in the final match of that stage by losing to the American player Maria Mateas.
After the defeat, messages on the Instagram social network followed, in which unknown users insulted her and threatened her and her family with death and abuse.
Stevanović shared some of the messages on the mentioned social platform, noting that she received "many more" similar threats.
As she told the BBC in Serbian, "she is lucky that she is not the one who sees these messages first", but her husband and coach, which makes her feel "quite protected".
"But when such threats come, he doesn't care either and feels the obligation to pass them on to me as well - I shudder when I read it, even though it's probably a false alarm," Natalija describes.
The tennis player from Nis points out that until now, "unfulfilled people, mostly bettors" who have lost money betting on her matches have approached her that way.
"For them, I'm just a name next to which they type in numbers," she adds briefly.
However, after hundreds of offensive messages, the 28-year-old tennis player has now decided to speak publicly about it.
"For the first time, I felt the need to share this on Instagram because many athletes receive such messages every day, and I think that it should be talked about more loudly.
"Many tennis players who received similar threats have written to me and, if we are a little louder, I believe that next time someone will at least think twice about sending me something like that," she says.
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'Apply and hope'
While she spoke publicly about the threats for the first time, Stevanović still did not decide to contact the police and the prosecutor's office.
"Before, I received advice to report to the police and the prosecutor's office, but I didn't do it, because the messages from the same people were not repeated.
"I'm not even now, but I think that's the next step, if it happens again after some of the next matches," notes the 28-year-old Nišljka.
Victims of online violence, like her, can report such incidents to the competent public prosecutor's office, as well as the Special Prosecutor's Office for high-tech crime, notes Branko Stamenković.
"Official duty implies the initiation of pre-investigative or investigative proceedings by the prosecutor's office if the law allows it, but it does not imply the obligation to monitor the Internet or social networks, and thus our knowledge on a daily level of what is happening on them.
"In any case, I advise potentially injured persons to initiate contact with the prosecutor's office and submit a notice or report," adds Stamenković.
Processing such crimes on the Internet is often inefficient and time-consuming, says Vladimir Radunović, an expert in cyber security.
"Technology companies, which are behind social networks like Facebook or Instagram, have a very difficult time providing information about account users, even to the prosecution, and the procedure in those cases takes a very long time," he explained to the BBC in Serbian.
If offensive and threatening content has arrived from another country, an additional problem arises.
"Approximately 270 days is the average duration of the procedure in official requests for the extradition of digital evidence between countries, because they are mostly located in companies, so in such cases, reporting often has no effect.
"If the threats are local, that is, they come from the same country, then the police do not depend on that data and can do their work faster without it," adds Radunović.
Still, he points out that such incidents "have to be reported," even if we sometimes don't take them seriously.
"Apply and hope - that's all you can do," says this expert.
Special prosecutor Branko Stamenković points out that "collecting and determining electronic evidence is always a challenge".
But he also adds that specialized police and prosecution bodies in the field of high-tech crime "have existed for many years, they are made up of well-trained and experienced professionals, and these challenges are taken seriously and overcome in accordance with the law and objective possibilities".
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Public figures often targeted
From his previous experience in the prosecutor's office, Branko Stamenković saw that "personalities, who are in any way more present in the public, are more exposed to unpleasant events on social networks, and even threats".
"However, so far we have observed that very few of these threats develop into a live encounter, or, even less, into a physical attack on the victim in any way," adds the special prosecutor for high-tech crime.
Zoran Milošević, executive director of the non-governmental organization Balkan Idea Novi Sad (BINS), which published the book "Cyber pioneers - a manual for the prevention of cyber violence", believes that celebrities are the most frequent targets of bullies on the Internet.
"Their accounts on social networks are generally open and accessible, and they are especially often a target in cases where we do not know who is hiding behind the profiles from which the threats are sent," Milošević told the BBC in Serbian.
However, he adds that there is also an advantage hidden in this - if public figures point out this problem, it can have a much greater effect than in cases of violence on the Internet suffered by people without many followers.
She describes the Serbian tennis player's move as "very brave, positive and important".
"I think it is important that Natalija published everything, the public spotlight is now focused on this case, the media have started to report on it, and I hope that there will be more public discussion about violence on the Internet, which mostly and most often affects women and children.
"When someone exposes himself in this way, it becomes clearer to the bullies that there is a possibility that they will come to light and that they can be reached," adds Milošević.
Individual athletes 'much more exposed'
Stevanović says that competitors in individual sports are "much more exposed" to criticism, insults, violence and threats on social networks than their colleagues who compete in team disciplines.
It is the same in the real world, and not only in the virtual world, Natalija adds.
"Smaller tournaments sometimes don't have security, and I had an incident in the Czech Republic where a man wanted me to sign a picture of me from going out, which he took off Instagram.
"I signed the other two for him from the tennis court, but I said that I am an athlete and that I will not sign this third one."
"He exclaimed 'why' and took a step towards me, luckily my husband was there - it was a small thing, the man didn't actually do anything to me and maybe he wouldn't have, but that jerk and his jerking was unpleasant." describes the 28-year-old from Niš.
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