For two weeks, Albania has been protesting a major tourism project in the Pishë Poro-Nartë protected area near Vlora. The project involves the construction of luxury hotels and villas worth billions of euros and is linked to foreign investors, including previously mentioned plans by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
Residents, activists, and civil society are protesting mainly due to the potential impact on the sensitive environment of the area, land ownership disputes, and the lack of transparency about the project and how it was approved (see here).
Hibrid.info has addressed misinformation content related to the events from this protest in two articles (see here and here).
However, even after the treatment, the same and other misinformation related to these protests has circulated and continues to spread in the digital space. This article presents some of the cases of misinformation about these protests, which have been linked to political figures in Kosovo or have been distributed by publishers with considerable influence in Kosovo.
Alleged pro-Kurti chants at protests
Another claim handled by Hibrid.info was related to a video material that allegedly showed chants of "We want Albin Kurti" being heard during protests in Albania. However, after verifying the facts, it was found that the audio contained chants of "The end has come for you," directed at the government in Albania.
Even in this case, despite the treatment by hibrid.info, video materials with the same claim are continuing to circulate (see here, here and here).
Hibrid.info has researched using the Google search engine whether credible sources have reported pro-Kurti calls in these protests, but the search has not yielded any results (see here).
It is not known where it was based, but in the show called "Politiko", which was broadcast on Wednesday (June 10), on "Kanal 10" television, at one point the alleged calls for the Prime Minister of Kosovo in these protests were raised as an issue (see here).
Such a claim may be convincing, due to the phonetic similarity. The sentences “The end has come for you.”And“We love Albin Kurti" have a relatively similar rhythmic structure and length. When the audio is noisy (as is often the case in protests), the human brain tends to fill in the missing parts based on the suggested text (see here).
Images generated with artificial intelligence
In an article covered by Hibrid.info, a photograph was circulating that claimed to show footage from the protest, showing a banner with the portrait of Kosovo's acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, and the inscription: "Kosovo, give us Albin for one term; Albania needs change".
After treatment, it was assessed that the image was generated by artificial intelligence. Such content, even after treatment by hibrid.info, continues to be published on social media (see here and here).
In addition to images of Kosovo political figures on banners, AI has also generated images of a crowd of people on the coast, through which it is claimed that the protest is taking place at the location where the investment is planned to be made. In this organization seen in the image, a presence of national and state symbols is noticeable, including the Albanian national flag, that of the Republic of Kosovo, as well as the flag with the emblem of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) (see here).
These claims are accompanied by images that appear to be visual evidence of a real event. Studies show that photographs attract more attention and can increase the impact of a message compared to text alone, making the claims associated with them more credible to the public (see here).
The claim that Kushner will withdraw from investments in Sazan
The other claim was that US President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, one of the investors connected to the project, will withdraw from a planned resort in Sazan and its sister in Zvërnec, to send the investment to the Greek island of Mykonos.
This claim came from a post on “X” on the account of Fitim Çeku, a journalist from Kosovo, who manages “Gazzetta Journal”, a Facebook page (see here). Despite the warning, no additional details about this matter have been published on the journalist's account in question.
The claim was then posted by a Socialist Party MP for Vlora, Ardit Bido. For this reason, this claim was addressed by “Faktoje.al”, a fact-checker based in Albania. The verification found that until the moment of publication of the treatment, the claim about Jared Kushner’s withdrawal from investments in Sazan, had no real basis (see here).
Image of a person next to a car with Belgrade license plates
An image showing a person near a car bearing a Serbian license plate was published on Facebook on the account of Taulant Balla, head of the Socialist Party Parliamentary Group in the Albanian Parliament (see here). Balla, in the caption of the post, claimed that it was about protesters who came from Serbia to Zvërnec.
Balla's claim was published as news by the Albanian language media outlet "Koha Jonë" (see here). The same image with the same claim has been published by commentators in Kosovo (see here and here).
Another claim that was spread regarding this image was that of the Albanian Parliament member, Agron Shehaj, who denied Balla's claim and said that the car belonged to journalists from the international news agency "Reuters", who had come to Zvërnec (see here).
This claim was presented as news on the portal and on the Facebook page named “Mekuli Press” (see here and here).
However, hibrid.info noted that from this photograph, the only thing that can be confirmed is the physical presence of a vehicle with Belgrade license plates and a person next to it in an open area. Any other interpretation about the persons traveling in it, the purpose of the stay, or the current ownership of the vehicle cannot be visually confirmed from this photograph.
conclusion
In today’s digital environment, where visual materials can be created or interpreted without any real basis, relying only on verifiable and credible sources remains the only way to avoid misinformation. This case highlights the importance of verifying audiovisual content before it becomes part of the public discourse. The continued dissemination of materials, even after they have been declared inaccurate, shows that initial handling is often not enough to stop their circulation unless there is increased care by publishers and influential media outlets. Therefore, a clear distinction between what can be factually verified and biased interpretations is essential to maintain the accuracy of public information.