Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj
Fake news is what has dominated over the past week in terms of misinformation published in the media, dubious portals, and social media pages and accounts.
Fake news has been published by several accounts on TikTok. On October 25, the account “vipalb2024” falsely claimed that singer Meda had died in an accident, which was denied by hibrid.info. Also, on October 29, the account “tavnikcitypdk” published false results of a poll on political parties ahead of the elections in Kosovo, falsely claiming that the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV) was leading with 31% of support. On October 28, another post by the account “fskrenarijajone” falsely claimed that Kosovo had obtained military aircraft from Turkey, while on October 31, the account “lëvizja_vetvendosje1” falsely stated that the Kosovo Security Force (FSK) had been supplied with ACV-15 vehicles from Turkey.
Several recent scams have been published on social media and via phone messages, aiming to defraud citizens in Kosovo. On October 25, on Facebook, the page “????????????-??????????????????????????????'” claimed that three cars would be donated for KIA’s 72nd anniversary, but hibrid.info verified that this was a scam, as the page is not official and the photo was taken from a KIA event in California. Another scam was carried out through SMS messages sent to citizens, stating that their package was pending due to incomplete address information and requesting an update via a suspicious link. Upon verification, it was discovered that the message came from a number with the +44 prefix of the United Kingdom, and that the purpose was to misuse personal data.
Disinformation/Clickbait was assessed when the Albanian language media outlet "ntv.al" published an article with the clickbait title "'Javelin' missiles for Kosovo are canceled/ Ejup Macedonci tells what is happening with them", creating the impression that a decision has been made to cancel the purchase of "Javelin" missiles for Kosovo. After verification by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that this claim is untrue.
Disinformation was published on social media with unfounded claims. On October 28, the “Investiguesi Shkrimor” Facebook account falsely claimed that Canada will begin euthanizing millions of citizens affected by the COVID-19 vaccine. On October 31, an old post from 2021 about drones for the Kosovo army was published on TikTok, presented as current. On October 24, the “Lule Gjeli” Facebook account claimed that the Deputy Director of the Kosovo Police, Veton Elshani, had been congratulated in the US for “fighting Serbian terrorism in the north,” but this claim was proven false by hibrid.info.
Unverified content has been published on social media and news portals. A video purporting to show a child trapped under rubble in Gaza was published by an Albanian-language account, but hibrid.info, citing fact-checking by “Maldita.es”, confirmed that the video was shot in Syria and shows a child playing in her home. Another false claim was that singer Labinot Tahiri would join the LDK to run in the February 9 elections. The article was originally published by the portal “Periskopi.com”, but it was later deleted. Tahiri himself denied this, confirming that he had not had any meetings with the LDK.
Manipulation of facts/Disinformation was assessed for the publication by the “tavnikcitypdk” account on TikTok where an image from the “indeksonline” portal showing the salary list of state leaders and the proposal for a salary increase by the Government was accompanied by the caption “Albin Kurti increases his salary the most!!! SHAME”, manipulating the information. According to the proposal, the salary increase will be the same for everyone, with 55 euros gross that will come into effect in January and another 55 euros in July 2025, indicating that the claim was disinformation.
Clickbait articles were published by the portal “Kosova Sot” with vague titles that do not specify the location of the events, which can lead to misunderstandings. The article “Fatal accident: Car runs off the road, 4 young people die” and the article “A bag with explosives is found at a station” do not indicate the location of the events, leaving room for interpretation that they may have occurred in Albanian-speaking areas. This can contribute to disinformation and panic among the public.
Lies
A post was published claiming that in honor of the 72nd anniversary of KIA (automobile brand), three cars will be donated. This post was published on Facebook on October 25 by the page named “????????????-??????????????????????????????'”. After checking the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that this post is false. The above-mentioned page is not official and the photo used in this post was taken from the opening of the authorized KIA company in the city of North Augusta, California. (here)
A message (SMS) has been sent to the phones of Kosovo citizens which reads "Your package has been placed on hold due to incomplete address information.”. To ensure that this package is delivered without problems, a clickable link has been published, where the address information can be updated. After verification of the facts carried out by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that the number that sent this message to the phone has the prefix +44, which belongs to the state of the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the link presented in the SMS is suspicious and is intended to obtain and misuse personal data. (here)
Fake news
An image has been published claiming that singer Mehdin Përgjecaj, known as Meda, has died in a traffic accident. This content was published three days ago (October 25), on TikTok by an account named “vipalb2024”. Hibrid.info has found that this claim is not true. (here)
A post claims to have conducted a survey regarding political parties in Kosovo, on the eve of the parliamentary elections on February 9. This post was published yesterday (October 29) on TikTok by the account “tavnikcitypdk”. In the photo, which claims to be the results of a survey, the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV) comes out on top with 31 percent, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) with 28 percent, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 23 percent, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) with 8 percent and the Communities with 10 percent. Hibrid.info has used “google.com” and has verified that there has been no publication with such a claim in any credible information source. (here)
Claims are published that Kosovo has obtained military aircraft from Turkey. The claim was published (October 28) through an image, showing several aircraft, on a TikTok account named “fskrenarijaone”. Hibrid.info’s findings show that the claim that Kosovo has obtained the aircraft from Turkey is incorrect. (here)
It has been claimed that the Kosovo Security Force (FSK) has been supplied with ACV-15 military vehicles from Turkey. The claim was made by the account “lëvizja_vetvendosje1” on TikTok on October 31. “FSK-is supplied with anti-air ACV-15 from Turkey”, is the caption placed on the publication in question. Hibrid.info has found that such a claim is not confirmed by official sources. Using the online search engine “Google” through keywords, hibrid.info has not found any credible source for the claim in question. (here)
Misinformation/Clickbait
The Albanian language portal "ntv.al" has published an article titled "'Javelin' missiles for Kosovo are canceled/ Ejup Macedonci reveals what is happening with them". After verifying the facts, hibrid.info has found that there is no cancellation of the purchase of "Javelin" missiles. In addition to not finding any article with a credible source for the cancellation, as claimed, this was not even stated by the Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci, in the content of the article itself. (here)
disinformation
A content is published claiming that Canada will begin euthanasia (voluntary death) of millions of citizens who are allegedly harmed by the COVID-19 vaccine. The claim was made through an image published (October 28) on Facebook, by the account named “Investiguesi Shkrimor”, which has placed the caption with this claim. The claim that Canada will begin euthanasia (voluntary death) of millions of citizens harmed by the COVID-19 vaccine is incorrect. Hibrid.info has found that there are doubts about the applicability of the law that allows assisted suicide in Canada, but there is no evidence that this country has started implementing the law on the alleged grounds. (here)
On October 31, a piece of content was published on TikTok with the caption “11.9 million euros for the Kosovo army DRONES FROM AMERICA”. After fact-checking, hibrid.info has confirmed that this content is old, published in 2021, and falsely presented as current. (here)
It has been claimed that the Deputy Director of the Kosovo Police for the Northern Region, Veton Elshani, was congratulated during his visit to the United States of America for “fighting Serbian terrorism in northern Kosovo”. The claim was made by the Facebook account “Lule Gjeli” through a post published on Thursday, October 24. After verification by hibrid.info, it turns out that during Elshani’s visit to the US, “fighting terrorism in the north” was not mentioned. (here)
Unverified content
Through a video showing a child, it is claimed that he was left under the rubble in Gaza. The video with this claim was published by an Albanian-language account. Hibrid.info, after conducting online research, found that this video was verified by fact-checkers from Spain “Maldita.es”, and it was confirmed that the claim is false. The video does not show a child under the rubble in Gaza, but it was made in Syria, when the child was playing in her house. (here)
It was claimed that singer Labinot Tahiri is expected to join the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) to run on the list for MPs in the national elections to be held on February 9. The article, originally published by the portal “Periskopi.com”, has since been deleted, but it still appears on Google. In fact, the article in question has also been published on at least one other Albanian-language information portal. Tahiri himself, in a statement to the portal “FrontOnline.net”, has denied the rumors that he will run for MP in the upcoming elections. He also said that he has not had any meetings with the LDK. (here)
Manipulation of facts/Disinformation
The TikTok account “tavnikcitypdk” has published an image taken from the information portal “indeksonline” showing a list of current salaries of state leaders and salaries proposed by the Government for next year. This TikTok account has added to the image the caption “Albin Kurti increases his salary the most!!! SHAME”. However, according to the Government’s proposal for salary increases next year, but also the list published by the account in question, show that the increase is proposed to be the same for everyone (from 55 euros gross in January 2025 and another 55 euros in July 2025). (here)
Clickbait
The portal “Kosova Sot” has published an article with the title “Fatal accident: Car goes off the road, 4 young people die”. However, the title does not indicate the location of the incident. Because the medium has a majority of Albanian-speaking readers, it may happen that the audience reads the news as an event that occurred in Albanian-speaking areas. (here)
The “Kosova Sot” portal has published an article with the title “A bag with explosives is found at a station”. However, the title does not indicate the location of the incident. Because the medium has a majority of Albanian-speaking readers, it is possible that the audience will read the news as an event that occurred in Albanian-speaking areas. (here)