During the period 25–30 May, monitoring of media and social platforms has evidenced a dominance of fake news, distributed mainly through social networks and suspicious websites.
During the monitored period, several fake news stories published mainly on Facebook, as well as on other social platforms such as TikTok and various online groups, were identified. Part of the disinformation came from the website “PEJA News”, which incorrectly claimed that the maternity allowance in Finland is 560 euros per month, comparing it to 500 euros in Kosovo. Verifications based on official data from Finnish institutions have shown that this payment is not fixed, but is calculated according to income and tax systems, making the claim untrue. Several publications with fake political polls were also identified. In one case, the existence of a French institute “CMC” was claimed to have published opinion polls for the parliamentary elections, although such a credible institution does not exist. In other cases, graphics and images of suspected polls were distributed, presenting manipulated results for the main political parties in Kosovo, often without verifiable sources and with elements suggesting the use of artificial intelligence. Additionally, publications in closed groups and anonymous pages presenting “measurements” of public opinion with varying and inaccurate results, often at odds with real electoral data and without a clear methodology, have been identified. This content has pursued obvious goals of influencing the public’s political perception and creating false narratives about support for political parties.
For the manipulation of facts, the content was published mainly on Facebook and dealt with political topics and public figures. The identified cases included the use of real videos and photos taken out of context, accompanied by inaccurate claims or manipulative captions. One of the topics was the false representation of Prime Minister Albin Kurti during an official ceremony in Skopje, where it was falsely claimed that he was honoring the anthem of North Macedonia, while in fact it was the anthem of the European Union. Another case involved the claim that Bekim Jashari would be supported by the Democratic Party of Kosovo in the June 7 elections, using a photo from a commemorative event unrelated to any political statement. These cases show the use of authentic visual materials to create false interpretations and influence public perception about political developments.
Fake news
The website “PEJA News”, through a post published on May 24, claimed that the maternity payment in Finland is 560 euros per month (after tax), compared to 500 euros in Kosovo (without tax). After verifying the facts by hibrid.info, based on official data from the state social security institution in Finland “kela.fi”, the payment in this country is calculated according to income and is taxed differently, therefore in no case does it result in a fixed amount of 560 euros per month, as was claimed. (here)
A Facebook post claimed to have published a political poll for the June 7 parliamentary elections. The post by the account “Duli Sadiku” claims that the poll was made public by the “French institute CMC”. The image shows the acronyms of the five Albanian parties and photos of the leaders of the four largest parties. There is no credible French institute with this name that deals with polls or public opinion measurements. Furthermore, the post did not provide any details that meet the criteria for a poll and the image was assessed as content generated with artificial intelligence. (here)
The Facebook account “Gjergj Dedaj” published a graphic on May 9 showing the acronyms of the four largest Albanian parties in the recent elections. According to the graphic, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) comes out the largest with 36 percent, followed by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 29%, the Self-Determination Movement (LVV) with 26% and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) with 9%. A Google image search has led to several other publications with the same image. (here)
The "lajme.politika.sh" account on TikTok has published an image that claims to be a measurement of public opinion on the question "If parliamentary elections were held next Sunday, which political party would you vote for??” The image shows the ranking of the four largest parties, with PDK in first place with 38.4 percent, LVV in second place with 35.7%, LDK in third place with 17.6% and AAK in fourth place with 6.3%. It is emphasized that PSD does not cross the threshold and that it has 2.0% in the measurement. In addition to spelling errors, the results of the survey show the dates 1-10 June as the dates for conducting the survey. The publication was made on 25 May. (here)
In the group “Lëvizja VETËVENDOSJE Velbert/Düsseldorf 🇦🇱🇩🇪” the account “Vesel Berisha” has published a graph that resembles the presentation of public opinion measurements. According to the publication, LVV has 69%, LDK 13, DPK 14 and AAK 4. In the alleged measurements the sample reaches 100 percent with no more than five subjects, although in the June 7 elections the ballot contains 21 political subjects. In the last elections (December 28) the four largest parties together received just over 90 percent and almost 10 percent was divided among other parties, mainly from communities. (here)
Manipulation of facts
A video shared on Facebook claims to show Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti honoring the national anthem of North Macedonia during an official ceremony. After verification by Hibrid.info, it turned out that the claim presented in the video caption is not accurate. The research confirmed that the music heard in the background is not the anthem of North Macedonia, but the anthem of the European Union. The video is related to the congress of the VLEN coalition in Skopje, where Prime Minister Kurti was present and where only the EU anthem was played. (here)
A content published on Facebook claiming that Bekim Jashari will support the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) in the June 7 snap elections is incorrect. The photo used to make the claim is related to a commemorative event, where Jashari participated and was seen next to the PDK leader, Bedri Hamza, without any political statement. Checking social networks and searching on Google did not find any facts confirming the alleged support. (here)