A video posted on Facebook (see here and here) features a man whose face is covered in pixels, claiming to be a former senior official of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The video claims that this former official stated that Albin Kurti is the product of an American strategy designed in the 90s and that the British took him under their protection when he was a student (see here and here).
What's wrong with the claim?
The video's audio appears to be generated with artificial intelligence (AI) from two different synthetic content analysis platforms.
Meanwhile, no verifiable source has been found that proves that the person in the video is a former CIA official or that he made the statements presented.
The video does not provide any information about the person appearing in the video, the position he held in the CIA, any documents, original interviews or other sources that would allow verification of this identity.
What is claimed in the video?
In the video, the person is alleged to say:
"This is the first time I'm speaking anonymously"
"I was one of the highest-ranking CIA officials since 1978."
"And I served for nearly 40 years as its officer"
"I am now retired"
"I've been hearing a lot of noise lately"
"People in Kosovo are divided into two camps"
"Those who think Albini is an enemy of America"
"and those who think America is punishing him"
“Let me tell you something”
"Nothing is as it seems"
"Albini didn't come out of nowhere"
"It is the product of a long-term strategy"
"which we designed back in the '90s"
"We didn't need another politician"
“who tells us 'Yes sir' for everything”
“We needed someone who could say 'No' publicly”
"but to silently implement our strategic agenda"
"While we in America are focused"
"London preferred spirit and ideology"
"The English took Albin under protection"
"when he was still a student"
"They trained him on how to build a movement"
"which looks organic but has a military discipline"
"When you see Albin standing low with a British diplomat"
"Don't just think they're drinking tea"
"If we praised Albin every day"
"He would lose the support of people who want sovereignty"
"We attack him so that he appears invincible"
"before his people"
"At the end of the day, Kurti is not an Anti-American"
"He is America's most sophisticated instrument in the Balkans"
"We gave him the script, he's just acting"
Note: The transcript was extracted from the subtitles placed in the analyzed video.
FACTS
The video's audio was analyzed with two artificial intelligence-generated content detection tools. Hivemoderation.com rated the audio as 99.3% AI-generated, while Diopter.ai rated it 100% (see pictures below).
Public documentation of Albin Kurti's activities during the '90s shows a different chronology than what is presented in the video.
According to the biography published by Office of the Prime Minister of KosovoKurti joined the Presidency of the Independent Union of Students of the University of Pristina in August 1997. During this period, the Union organized peaceful protests for the release of university spaces usurped by Serbian authorities.
Reports i International Crisis Group for Kosovo, published in 1998, describes Kurti as one of the leaders of the Student Union in 1997. The report also documents that, following the student protests, the US special envoy for the Balkans, Robert Gelbard, invited Kurti and Bujar Dugolli to visit the US, where they were received at the US State Department and visited American universities.
Even the documents US Department of State Gelbard's contacts with student leaders in Kosovo in 1997–1998 are evidence. At a press conference in Pristina on 22 February 1998, Gelbard said that he had met with student leaders and praised the peaceful nature of their protests.
These sources document Kurti's contacts with American representatives during his student activities in 1997, but do not provide support for the video's claim that "he was part of a CIA strategy devised in the 90s," that he "was trained by the British," or that his activity was part of a CIA script.
Analyze
The video features a man with a pixelated face, posing as a former CIA officer, who claims that Albin Kurti is the product of an American strategy devised in the 90s and that he was trained by the British.
After verifying the facts, it was determined that the audio was generated with artificial intelligence, while there are no verifiable sources that prove the person's identity or his statements.
Likewise, public documents about Kurti's activities in the 90s prove his contacts with American representatives, but do not support the video's claims.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Fraud".
rationale
The “Deception” rating is given to informational content that is manipulated in terms of visual (deepfake, cheapfake), audio, or textual content to deceive the audience. This form of deception is usually used to produce false and manipulated content.