Clone of Mykolaiv media outlet's page appears on Facebook

A page using the name and brand book of the Pervomaysk (Mykolaiv oblast) media outlet "Gard.City" appeared on Facebook, as pointed out by chief editor Halyna Davydova.

"Someone has created a Facebook page and group that completely mimic the Gard.City style. Appeals to this person's conscience had no effect, so there are reasonable suspicions that they are going to use these fake resources to for fundraising. China makes fake 'adidas', and Pervomaysk thieves fake the style of our publication," Halyna Davydova wrote on Facebook.

She attached two screenshots showing that the creators of the page used the media outlet's visual style and name.

"How to tell the difference? Gard.City's original style has no hearts or sunshine rays, we are a professional publication, after all. Moreover, we never write the second part of our name in Cyrillic, but always in the Latin script, just like the name we are registered under: City," wrote Halyna Davydova.

According to Kateryna Sereda, the IMI representative in Mykolaiv oblast, the page Halyna Davydova complained about used to be titled "Pervomaysk Novosti" and was created in 2020. On October 11, 2024, it was renamed "Gard City". The page has 1.6 thousand subscribers. The administrators have deleted all previous posts, and now there are four: one on the sports competitions attended by Pervomaysk athletes, one reporting on data from the state ecology inspection, one saying that the OMA chair Vitaliy Kim and deputy Davyd Arakhamia bailed out deputy Iryna Kormyshkina, who was charged with embezzlement, and a video address by Volodymyr Zelensky.

A local group was also renamed "Gard City / Pervomaysk: news and announcements". Halyna Davydova says her media outlet has no ties to the group.

"They created a Facebook group where they post various rubbish: some wild politics and scams. How sick in the head do you have to be to not make your own thing. On the other hand, it means that Gard and our like-minded readers community have some real power if bastards are doing such things," wrote Halyna Davydova and called to report the group and the page.

In a comment to the IMI, Halyna Davydova said that she did not know who are the administrators of the fake pages mimicking the media outlet's style. Yet, she said that earlier, back in September, Facebook blocked the media outlet's official page, which had more than 17,000 followers. Halyna Davydova has already turned to media lawyers who are helping to restore the "Gard.City" Facebook page.

It should be noted that this is not the first time that outsiders have tried to appropriate the media outlet's visuals. Two months ago, Halyna Davydova pointed out that the official page of the Pervomaysk City Council Executive Committee used the news outlet's design for their Facebook cover.

"Stealing is shameful. How did it even occur to you to use our design without permission? I'll tell you a secret: designs cost money. The Pervomaysk City Council executive committee ripped off our publication's unique design. It was developed in 2019 using very specific photos by very specific people. Not only that, it's also the original template layout for a whole network of editorial offices. Colleagues, how do you like this simple-minded naivety?" wrote Halyna Davydova back then.

After some time, the stolen design was removed from the executive committee's page. In a comment to her media outlet, Halyna Davydova said that she had received neither an apology nor an explanation from the officials.

As reported earlier, in March 2023, "Gard.City" journalist Natalia Klymenko reported pressure from the Mayor of Pervomaysk (Mykolaiv oblast), Oleh Demchenko, following her report from a City Council session that raised his salary.

Earlier, the "Gard.City" chief editor Halyna Davydova complained that the Pervomaysk City Council press office did not support the work of journalists.