Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj
Disinformation and conspiracy theories have been the dominant categories of misinformation during monitoring of media and social platforms in the past week.
Over the past week, several disinformation campaigns have been spread on social media platforms and aimed at manipulating public opinion. A 2018 video was published on the “X” platform, falsely presenting it as a current event in the UK, claiming that an illegal Albanian immigrant was trying to rob a house. On Facebook, the “indeksonline.net” page shared an image claiming that 15% more expensive energy bills had started, although a decision on this issue had not yet been made. Meanwhile, Serbian-language media reported without facts about chaos at the Montenegrin football club Dečić, linking it to the change of the club’s crest, a claim that was denied by the club’s president himself.
Conspiracy theories have been published in Serbian-language media. The Serbian outlet “pravda.rs” claimed that Kenyan President William Ruto received money from Behgjet Pacolli to recognize Kosovo as an independent state, without providing any evidence – based solely on the statement of a former Serbian ambassador. Similarly, “Politika.rs” reported that the bomb attack on the post office in Zvecan was a “secret operation” organized by Pristina, without providing any concrete evidence, while the authorities in Kosovo are investigating the act as a crime. The outlet “Alo.rs” also reported without evidence that a masked person destroyed the flag of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Rahovec, linking this incident to the Albanian community. The Kosovo police have not been able to identify the perpetrator, and the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia has linked the incident to Pristina’s anti-Serbian rhetoric, also without any concrete evidence.
Unverified content has been published in Albanian-language media, which have disseminated inaccurate information. The media outlets “PressOnline.info” and “Koha.mk” published articles claiming that a large number of bears had blocked the entrance to Yellowstone National Park in the USA, but Hibrid.info has confirmed that the photo used for this claim was generated by Artificial Intelligence. Also, on April 1, several media outlets such as “botasot.info”, “ballkani.info” and “zyrtare.net” reported that a 23-year-old girl had died after being hit by a police officer at a pedestrian crossing in Peja. Verification has shown that although the accident occurred, the victim did not die, but her health condition remains serious.
An image shared by “A1TV” on April 2, showing a “werewolf” with the caption that a wildlife camera had captured this species, was deemed a hoax. Hibrid.info has confirmed that the photo was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is not an authentic image.
A Facebook post from the account "Lule Gjeli" that shared a photo of Vlora Çitaku with the claim that PDK had opposed the Croatia-Albania-Kosovo military agreement was deemed fake news. After verifying the facts, hibrid.info confirmed that PDK has not expressed any such position.
Unverified content
Articles in Albanian are being published claiming that a large number of bears have blocked the road before the entrance to Yellowstone National Park in the United States of America (USA). The articles were published by two media outlets named “PressOnline.info” (March 26) and “Koha.mk” (March 29). Hibrid.info has found that the photograph used to present the claim was generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). (here)
Last night, various Albanian-language media outlets published articles with almost identical content, titled, “The 23-year-old woman who was hit by a policeman on a zebra crossing in Peja dies, this is the identity of the author”. The content with this claim was found and published on April 1 in media outlets such as: “botasot.info”, “ballkani.info” and “zyrtare.net”. A serious traffic accident occurred yesterday in the village of Qyshk in Peja, where a pedestrian was hit by a car. However, unlike yesterday’s reports that the victim has died, Hibrid.info has found that her condition continues to be serious. (here)
Conspiracy theory
Through a headline, it is claimed that the President of Kenya, William Ruto, has received money from the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Behgjet Pacolli, so that Kenya would recognize Kosovo as an independent state. The publication was made by the Serbian-language medium “pravda.rs”, with the title “Ruto received money from Pacolli for the recognition of the so-called Kosovo”. The article was published on March 27 and the main image uses a photo of the ceremony of signing the recognition declaration. The article does not even show the fact that Ruto has received money for the recognition of Kosovo. In fact, the entire content is based on a statement by the former Serbian ambassador to Kenya, Dragan Zupanjevac for “Kosovo-online.com”. (here)
In an article published on April 3 by Politika.rs, titled “Kurti’s secret operation before the post office in Zveçan”, it is alleged that the bomb attack on the post office in Zveçan was part of an operation organized by Pristina institutions, with support from a European intelligence service. The newspaper also mentions the placement of explosives in the Ibër-Lepenc canal, describing it as a similar staging, without providing any credible evidence and remaining in a conspiratorial narrative. Meanwhile, the Kosovo Police announced that one or several unknown persons threw hand grenades, and the anti-terror unit is working intensively to discover the perpetrators, while the State Prosecution has been notified and has initiated investigations for “causing general danger”. (here)
The media outlet “Alo.rs” has published an article claiming that a masked person destroyed the official flag of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Rahovec, linking the incident to the Albanian community, but without providing any evidence for this. According to security cameras, the event was recorded on April 1, 2025, where a masked person entered the courtyard and tore the flag, stealing another flag, while the Kosovo Police were unable to identify the perpetrator. The Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia has reacted by linking the incident to Pristina’s anti-Serbian rhetoric, but without presenting any concrete evidence regarding the motives or the identity of the perpetrators. (here)
disinformation
A video has been published on the social platform “X” showing several police officers catching a person who was trying to break into a house. In the publication of the English-language account “VukFeNix”, it is claimed that the suspect is an illegal Albanian immigrant as he tries to enter a house in the United Kingdom to commit robbery. After verifying the facts by hibrid.info, it turns out that the video is old, from 2018. And in the reports at that time it was not disclosed that the suspect is an illegal Albanian immigrant. (here)
An image has been published with the caption, “Energy billing starts today at 15% more expensive”. This image was published on the Facebook page of the medium “indeksonline.net”, and has the article with the same title attached in the comment. Hibrid.info has found that energy billing may start from April 1, but the decision on whether or not to increase the price of electricity will be made on April 11. (here)
Serbian-language media have claimed that chaos is happening at the Montenegrin football club “Dečić”. The reason for this, these media claimed, is the change of the emblem of this football club. However, the president of KF Dečić, Pal Dreshaj, in a television appearance, denied the claims of the Serbian-language media about chaos, saying that these claims are lies. Also, for the same reason, that is, for the change of the emblem of KF Dečić, the Serbian-language media had reported without facts that the friendly match with KF Radnički (Serbia) had been canceled in 2024. This claim was also dismissed, because on the day when the Radnički vs Dečić test match was canceled, the other friendly match between Mornar (Montenegro) and Mladost from Lučani (Serbia) was also canceled, and the reason was bad weather. (here)
Lies
An image of a “werewolf” has been published, with a caption claiming that a wildlife camera captured this specific species in the dense forest. The photo was published yesterday (April 2) by “A1TV”, a Facebook page, and was later shared by other media outlets and websites. Hibrid.info has found that this content was generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). (here)
Fake news
A photo of Vlora Çitaku, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), is published, with the caption claiming that this political entity has opposed the Croatia-Albania-Kosovo military agreement, considering it useless if Serbia is not part of it. This content with this claim was published (March 23) on Facebook, by the account named “Lule Gjeli”. Hibrid.info has found that the PDK has not expressed the position claimed in this post. (here)