Technology company United Cloud has told Nova.rs that it will not interfere in the editorial independence or decisions of its clients, responding to reports that the new management of the news portal plans to restrict journalists' and editors' ability to publish articles independently.
"As a provider of software services, we have not interfered and will not interfere in the editorial independence and decisions of our clients, nor do we have the right to do so," the company said.
The response followed an open letter from nine media organizations warning that removing existing editors' and administrators' technical and editorial permissions on Nova.rs would amount to direct complicity in an attempt to establish control over one of Serbia's most influential independent news portals.
The letter was signed by the Media Association, the Online Media Association, the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina, the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia, Local Press, the Slavko Curuvija Foundation, the Nezavisnost media union, the Association of Independent Electronic Media and the Journalists' Association of Serbia. It was addressed to United Cloud CEO Dejan Kocic and Alpac Capital's management.