Misleading articles, clickbait, disinformation, and conspiracy theories have been the categories that have dominated the misinformation ecosystem in the past week.
The fraudulent articles were mainly posts on Facebook accounts with fabricated stories that the (fake) holders of these accounts were suffering from an illness and had expressed a desire to share their wealth.
Some claims by Serbian institutions, officials and political entities were related to the interpretation that there is an intention of official Pristina to expel Serbs from their settlements.
Clickbait articles have mainly been related to various developments that did not disclose the location of the event in the headline.
Fake news about the death of the famous singer, Sabri Fejzullahu.
Manipulation of facts by the Serbian-language media with the claim that the US ambassador to Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, has clearly stated that Serbia is not obligated to remove Kosovo from its constitution.
Error in reporting regarding the floods that have affected southern Turkey, caused by rainfall, where a photograph was used that does not correspond to the content.
Disinformation claiming that Switzerland is looking for workers; that several people have been arrested.
Lies
A Facebook account named “Jesus Revient” with an elderly woman as its profile picture, published a status in Albanian on March 3, through which a fabricated story was created, claiming that the (fake) account holder of this account suffers from an illness and that “has expressed a desire to share her wealth worth 558 thousand euros”. From the fact-checking process and their treatment, it was understood that the claim made in this post is completely fabricated. Therefore, this status made by the Facebook account named “Jesus Revient” is a fabricated story based on fake photos. (here)
A Facebook page called “Sherbibe online” has published a post with a photo of a woman, claiming a fabricated story in Albanian, allegedly that the person seen in this image is Sylvia Beatrice of Canadian origin who lives in France. In this post, the aforementioned page claims that the person in question (Sylvia Beatrive) has decided to share her wealth, since she suffers from an illness. While to accept this donation, it is called for those interested to contact a phone number (+ 370 633 94220). (here)
The TikTok account “respetluizejlli” has published a fake video claiming that BBC News presenter Matthew Amroliwala spoke about BBVA competitor Luiz Ajlli. The author of this video has intervened in Amroliwala’s words, claiming that the latter spoke about Luiz Ajlli. That this video is a deep fake is proven by the fact that the original video of the BBC News was found and published on Youtube on August 11, 2022. In fact, what Amroliwala had spoken about during this edition was about the war in Ukraine. (here)
Conspiracy theory
The Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia claims without evidence that the robbery of Dragisa Mišić's house in Batushë, Fushë Kosovës, occurred as a result of hate speech against Serbs by politicians in official Pristina. This institution claims tendentiously that this action is becoming a reason for Serbian residents to be targets of Albanian hooligans and miscreants. (here)
The political entity of the Serbian community in Kosovo, “Serbian List”, claims without facts that the provision of evidence by the Ferizaj prosecutor’s office to charge Azem Kurtaj with the criminal offense of “causing general danger and use of a weapon or dangerous means”, represents the systematic and planned institutional violence of Albin Kurti’s anti-Serbian regime. This entity claims tendentiously that this action is being taken with the aim of expelling Serbs from their settlements. (here)
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic claims that Albin Kurti's main goal is to "expell Serbs from Kosovo." Dacic does not substantiate his claim with any facts, which could be documents or other evidence. (here)
Clickbait
The information portal “Kosova-sot.info” has published an article titled “Details of how a 30-year-old man murdered his girlfriend are revealed”. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it turns out that the title of the article does not clarify the news and location of this event. In addition to the fact that the title does not clarify the location of the event, the photo placed in this article also does not correspond to the content, as it shows police tape with the words “CRIME SCENE DO NOT PASS” written in Albanian, which suggests that the event took place in an Albanian-speaking country. (here)
The portal “Kosova-sot.info” has published an article, with an event in Los Angeles, which talks about 8 children who ended up in the hospital due to chewing some candy injected with marijuana. However, this portal has given this article a general title that does not indicate where the event took place. Also, the photo placed in this article does not correspond to the content. The photo shows Kosovo Police vehicles, while that image belongs to an event in November 2022 that took place in the courtyard of the UCCK in Pristina. (here)
disinformation
By verifying the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that the page “Të Tjë me Luiz Ejlli” on Facebook has published a status calling on readers to comment, raising the false claim that BBVA has opened a vote that “if this photo reaches 2 thousand comments, then the resident (Luiz Ejlli) will be declared the public’s favorite resident”. That this claim is false was confirmed after research conducted through online search engines. On the official BBVA page on Instagram it is made clear that the only way to vote for the “public’s favorite” is through phone numbers. (here)
The suspicious portal with content in the Albanian language “viraln23.com” has published an article titled “Major police operation – over 100 people arrested. The police operation is continuing…”. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the article in question is old, published in November 2022 and concerns the arrest of several immigrants in Horgosh in northern Serbia. This suspicious portal has tried to present this old article as current. (here)
Several Facebook pages have posted an article claiming that Switzerland is looking for workers in several sectors. However, after verifying the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that the news is old (April 2022) and refers to a published report that recorded 246,942 job vacancies in the first quarter of 2022. (here)
error
Albanian-language online media have reported on floods in southern Turkey caused by heavy rainfall. The media have included a photo in this article that does not match the content. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that the image does not depict the floods of March 15, but those in the northern province of Turkey in 2021. (here)
Manipulation of facts
The Serbian-language media outlet “srbijadanas.rs” has claimed that the US ambassador to Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, has clearly stated that Serbia is not obliged to remove Kosovo from its constitution. The claim of the Serbian media outlet is an interpretation of the US ambassador’s statement. In fact, Ambassador Hovenier has stated that in the 11 points presented there was no addressing of this issue, and he does not believe that this issue has been a specific element of the talks so far. (here)
Fake news
The TikTok account named “lumjanana009” has published a short video (15 seconds) with the image of singer Sabri Fejzullahu, in which it has put the caption “SINGER SABRI FEJZULLAHU DIES CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILY”. After verification of the facts carried out by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that this claim made by the aforementioned account is false. That this claim is false was confirmed through the singer’s personal Instagram account, which has published an announcement about a concert in Belgium. (here)