Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj
Articles that have been labeled as "fake news" are what have dominated last week in terms of misinformation published in the media, dubious portals, and social media pages and accounts.
Fake news has been published on social media, specifically on the TikTok and Facebook platforms. Claims have been published on TikTok that the images show military equipment being sent from the United States of America (USA) towards Kosovo; that the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has shared the post of journalist Berat Buzhala on the social media X (former Twitter); that Bill Clinton has made assessments of Hashim Thaçi and Albin Kurti; that Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said that Kosovo is planning to open an arms factory and that the agreement with Turkey is very close. False claims were published on Facebook that it has been confirmed that the Kosovo army will be equipped with the first Albanian armored vehicle "Shota", produced by the Albanian company Timak; that Kurti continues to arm the army with the anti-aircraft system, purchased from Turkey.
The misleading content was published on social media. On Facebook, an image appears of a booklet with the photo and name of US Vice President Kamala Harris, claiming that she was a member of the Communist Party of the former Soviet Union (USSR). On Facebook, an image generated with artificial intelligence was published, showing soldiers standing next to each other while holding the flags of Albania and Israel. On social networks, it has been claimed that during the official visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Serbia, there was an intimate kiss between him and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić.
The publication of an image claiming that Turkey will donate a helicopter to Kosovo was deemed fraud/fake news.
Unverified content has been published on social media and the media. On X, several photographs were published showing several crosses (a symbol of Christians) in flames, and it was claimed that this act was committed by Muslim Albanians, adding that this was done as a sign of hatred towards Catholics. Through a video material published on Facebook, it was claimed that there was a continuation of shootings between the two groups that have been rumored in recent days, after the armed clash that occurred over the weekend in the “Aktash” neighborhood in Pristina. The media published the claim that “The police have already arrested the suspect”, in connection with the shooting incident in the “Aktash” neighborhood of Pristina.
Clickbait articles have been published in the media regarding earthquakes and student murders, for which the location of the event is not disclosed in the title, leaving room to imply that the event occurred in Albanian-speaking areas.
Fake news
Through a video publication on the social media TikTok, it is claimed that the footage shows military equipment that has been sent from the United States of America (USA) towards Kosovo. “READY FOR KOSOVO IS COMING THANKS TO THE USA” is the caption that the account “fskkosova2024” has put on the publication made on September 1. After verification by hibrid.info it turns out that the footage was taken from preparations for a military parade, organized in Slovakia to mark the 80th anniversary of the Slovak military uprising during World War II. (here)
Through a Facebook post, it is claimed that it has been confirmed that the Kosovo army will be equipped with the first Albanian armored vehicle “Shota”, produced by the Albanian company Timak. The claim was made by the “Kosova Armed Forces” Facebook page on August 30. After research conducted by hibrid.info, no information published in credible sources has been found that claims that such a thing has been confirmed. (here)
Through a publication on the social media TikTok, it is alleged that the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has shared the post of journalist Berat Buzhala on the social media X (formerly Twitter). “Look how Aleksandar Vučić shares Berat Buzhala’s posts where he accused Prime Minister Albin Kurti” is the caption presented in the publication made by the account “albin.kurti53”. The image presented is a montage. This claim was even addressed by hibrid.info in June 2023 and was described as “Fake news”. (here)
Content is being published that features former US President Bill Clinton's assessments of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. These materials were published on TikTok by the account named "universalks", in the form of images showing the portrait of former President Clinton, with captions that present his comments on Thaçi and Kurti. Hibrid.info has managed to find Clinton's alleged assessments of politicians from Kosovo published by credible sources. (here)
Through a post, it is claimed that the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, continues to arm the army with the anti-aircraft system, purchased from Turkey. This claim was made by a Facebook page called “Diaspora me Albinin”. After research conducted by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that such a claim has not been published in any credible source. Also, the aforementioned page does not provide any facts that would support this claim. (here)
A TikTok post claimed that Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that Kosovo is planning to open a weapons factory and that the agreement with Turkey is very close. The claim was published by the TikTok account “gladiatorkosova1” on September 6. “Albin Kurti: We are planning to open a weapons factory in Kosovo, the agreement with the Turkish state is very close!” is the caption that this account put on a photo of Prime Minister Kurti with the president of the Turkish Defense Industry Agency, Haluk Gorgun, during the latter’s visit to Kosovo on September 3. The claim about the weapons factory turns out to be false. Kurti did not say such a sentence. This is confirmed by taking into account all public announcements regarding Kurti’s meeting with Gorgun. (here)
Lies
An image shows a booklet with the photo and name of US Vice President Kamala Harris, claiming that she was a member of the communist party of the former Soviet Union (USSR). This claim was published in Albanian by the “Patriotët E Botës Re” Facebook page. After researching this photo, hibrid.info has confirmed that this booklet does not belong to Kamala Harris, and that it was created through a website that allows anyone to create Soviet-era identification cards. (here)
A content with photos is published, where soldiers are seen next to each other while holding the flags of Albania and Israel in their hands. This material was published (August 30) by the account named “don.gustavo2” on TikTok. After verification by hibrid.info, it turns out that the photos published by this account on TikTok are generated with Artificial Intelligence. (here)
It has been claimed on social media that during the official visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Serbia, there was an intimate kiss between him and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić. This video material was also published by the page named “Arianit Sllamniku” on Facebook (August 31), where it is claimed that the intimate kiss between these two officials was captured. After verification of the facts by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the video is manipulated. (here)
Fraud/Fake news
An image claims that Turkey will donate a helicopter to Kosovo. This image was published (September 5) on TikTok by the account “cr7shqip”. The image shows the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the Foreign Minister of Turkey, Hakan Fidan. A helicopter is also visible in the background of these two political figures. After checking the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that the image is fabricated and that there is no information published in credible sources, which proves that Turkey will donate a helicopter to Kosovo. (here)
Unverified content
Several photos have been published on the social media X (formerly Twitter) showing several crosses (a symbol of Christians) in flames. Through these photos, the English-language account “Global Dissident” has claimed that this act was committed by Muslim Albanians, adding that this was done as a sign of hatred towards Catholics. After conducting research, hibrid.info has confirmed that these images were taken from a theatrical performance as part of the “Ulpiana Fest” festival, which was held for two days (August 31 - September 1) at the Ulpiana Archaeological Park, near Pristina. (here)
On September 3, an article was published reporting a shooting in the “Aktash” neighborhood of Pristina. The news was published by the media outlet “sinjali.com”, which claimed that “The police have already arrested the suspect.” Hibrid.info has found that the suspect, who attacked a person, is still at large. (here)
A video posted on Facebook claims that there has been a continuation of shootings between the two groups that have been rumored in recent days, after the armed clash that occurred over the weekend in the “Aktash” neighborhood in Pristina. “EXCLUSIVE – Today at around 20:00 PM it is reported that Capat and Sekiraqt were shot again – Special Unit at the scene”, is the title of the video posted on Thursday by “RTI” on Facebook. The posted video shows police units on the street conducting official operations. And in the 24-hour report of the Kosovo Police, published on Friday (September 6), no information was given that there had been any shootings. However, the publication was deleted on Friday (archived link). By the time hibrid.info started handling the content, the video had had around 46 thousand clicks. (here)
Clickbait
“The country is not finding peace! What is happening, three consecutive earthquakes hit within a few minutes”, is the title of an article. This article was published (September 3) on Facebook by the Albanian-language content page “Preference”. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that the news is old and the title does not clarify that it is about an earthquake that occurred in Greece. (here)
A news story has been published about the death of 17 students after a fire in a school. The article was published (September 6) by several Albanian-language portals. Hibrid.info has found that the location of the event is not mentioned in the title of the articles of these media. Information about the location of the event is only shown in the introduction to the news text. Given that the media in question publish content in the Albanian language, the lack of specification in the title about where the event occurred creates the possibility for the audience to interpret that it occurred in Albanian-speaking areas. (here)