Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj
As a result of the findings and treatments of misinformation published last week, fake news is what dominated the misinformation ecosphere.
All the fake news was published on social media, specifically on Tiktok. On Tiktok, it was claimed about a poll regarding the parliamentary elections expected to be held on February 9, 2025 in Kosovo; that an agreement has been reached for the provision of the tanks shown in the photograph; that the former President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, who is being tried in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity, has been sentenced to life imprisonment; that Kosovo has provided tanks from Turkey; that the Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, Liburn Aliu, and the chairman of the Nisma Socialdemokrate party, Fatmir Limaj, have had their transactions and assets abroad blocked.
Both publications on social media and real media were assessed as disinformation. On social media, a graphic with percentage data on religious affiliation in Kosovo was published, without clarifying that it was old. Meanwhile, in real media, a video was presented as current in which it is seen how a waiter had pushed away a girl who was asking for alms near the table where the Minister of Agriculture, Faton Peci, was, but without clarifying that the video was old.
A video titled "Clickbait/Disinformation" has been assessed.'Secret Pact for Kosovo' Almost Splits the Country", which does not disclose in the title that it is an analyst's opinion.
An article titled "A person who was kidnapped at the age of six is found alive" has been deemed clickbait, and the location of the incident is not disclosed in the headline.
The publication in real media that Kosovo's Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci, has threatened Belgrade, calling on it to prepare, as the KSF will be equipped with helicopters by 2025, has been assessed as misinformation/clickbait.
Scams have been published on social media, that from September everyone will be able to receive 95% of the electricity bill subsidy refund; that discounts of up to 40% are offered for electric bicycles.
The article was rated as unverified content, claiming that several different Kosovo Police trainings that were conducted until recently in cooperation with the American Embassy have been canceled.
An old video that purports to be actual statements by citizens in support of Bedri Hamza as the PDK's candidate for prime minister has been deemed a manipulation of facts.
disinformation
A graph with percentage data on religious affiliation in Kosovo was published (September 22), without clarifying that it is old. Hibrid.info has confirmed that this graph was published in 2017 by Radio Free Europe. KAS has not published data on religious affiliation in the preliminary data from the 2024 population census. (here)
The Albanian-language portal "kosova-sot.info" has presented as current the video in which it is seen how a waiter had removed a girl who was asking for alms near the table where the Minister of Agriculture, Faton Peci, was. But the video is old. It was published in December 2022 and the minister himself had also reacted to this. (here)
Fake news
A TikTok post claims to be a poll regarding the parliamentary elections expected to be held on February 9, 2025 in Kosovo. The post was made by the account “mevetevendosje” on September 22. The published photo shows the list of four parliamentary parties and the percentages that are supposed to have emerged from the poll. In this alleged poll, the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) leads with 48.8%, followed by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) with 19%, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 18% and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) with 6%. According to the claim, this poll was allegedly conducted in September, without counting votes from the diaspora. The alleged poll is fake. Hibrid.info has verified on the online search engine “Google” and no credible source has been found that indicates a poll with such data. With the search for the keywords "survey, September, Kosovo, 2025" there is no publication with a credible source that presents a survey conducted and published in the last month. (here)
A video material has been published showing a photo from a meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with the claim that an agreement has been reached for the provision of the tanks shown in the photo. The content was found published (September 21) on TikTok, by an account named “fbi13039”. Hibrid.info has found that the alleged information is not confirmed. (here)
A video has been released, with the caption claiming that former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, who is on trial in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity, has been sentenced to life imprisonment. The claim was posted (September 23) on TikTok by an account named “pograddeccii”. The trial of former President Thaçi is ongoing and no decision has yet been made by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers based in The Hague. (here)
An image showing a tank has been published, with a caption implying that Kosovo has obtained this equipment from Turkey. This content was published on September 23 on TikTok by an account named “oki0804”. Hibrid.info has not found any facts that confirm the alleged information. As of the time of treatment, this post has received nearly 30 thousand views and 166 comments. (here)
Two pieces of content have been published claiming that the Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, Liburn Aliu, and the chairman of the Nisma Socialdemokrate party, Fatmir Limaj, have had their transactions and assets blocked abroad. These pieces of content have been published in the form of images with captions on TikTok, by the accounts “grofy_01” and “pograddeccii”. The research of hibrid.info has not found any facts or reports from credible media that confirm these two claims. What the contents discussed have in common is that in both cases, they refer to alleged reports from credible international media. While in the case of Minister Aliu, it is claimed that the news was reported by the German newspaper “Berlin Zeitung”, for the former MP and former minister Limaj, it is claimed that “Voice of America” reported. (here)
Clickbait/Disinformation
A video titled "'Secret Pact for Kosovo' Almost Splits the Country". The content was published (September 23) on the official channel of the television "EuroNews Albania" on Youtube. The video presents an interview with the opinion writer, Sadri Ramabaja, from whose statements it has been confirmed that the information presented in the title has come. However, the author of the statements presented as information is not specified in the title of the video. (here)
Clickbait
An article titled “A man who was kidnapped at the age of six is found alive” has been published. This news was published by the Albanian language medium “kosova-sot.info”. The location of the news is only disclosed in the introduction of the article when it is stated that “A man who was kidnapped at the age of six while playing in a park in California in 1951…”. (here)
Misinformation/Clickbait
Through a post, it is alleged that the Minister of Defense of Kosovo, Ejup Maqedonci, has threatened Belgrade, calling on it to prepare, since the KSF will be equipped with helicopters from 2025. This claim was published in the form of a post on Facebook by the portal kosova-sot.info (Kosova Sot). “Macedonian from Pristina hits Belgrade: Prepare yourself because the KSF will have helicopters from 2025, which indirectly makes you know what awaits you”, the published post reads. After checking the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that this claim is incorrect. This is due to the fact that in the interview of Maqedonci given to the news agency “ekonomiaonline.com”, which was published by “kosova-sot.info”, at no time did the Minister of Defense make such a warning to Belgrade. (here)
Lies
A content has been published with the caption, claiming that from September everyone will be able to receive 95% of the electricity bill subsidy refund. This claim was published through an image link, (September 13) as sponsored by a page called “WZY's store”, on Facebook. Hibrid.info has found that the only option for electricity bill refund, offered by Kosovo institutions, is that of applying for vulnerable families, which have started to be subsidized since January of this year. (here)
A post has been published claiming to offer discounts on electric bicycles of up to 40%. The post was published on September 18 by a Facebook page called “Daily Digest”. The post lacks details about the business offering the alleged opportunity, making the offer in question invalid. The announcement was published as an embedded link in an image. (here)
Unverified content/Disinformation
Through a publication, an old article titled “The hidden wealth of four leaders: Kadri Veseli 100 million, Thaçi 80, Limaj 82, and Ramushi 68 million dollars!” has been returned to TikTok. The publication on TikTok was made by the account named “shqipe._shqipe._23” (September 25) and has so far received over 60 thousand views and over 1400 likes. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it turns out that the content of the article by “botasot.info”, returned to TikTok by the account “shqipe._shqipe._23” is unfounded. (here)
Unverified content
Through an article published (September 25), it is claimed that several different trainings of the Kosovo Police that were carried out until recently in cooperation with the American Embassy, have been canceled. The article was published by the portal “dukagjini.com”, adding that this is what the television (Dukagjini) has learned from sources close to these developments. The US Embassy in a response to “klankosova.tv” has denied such a thing, saying that “We are continuing to review this issue, and we have not made any decision at this time”. Also, the Kosovo Police has denied the cancellation of the trainings with the US Embassy, saying that they have not been interrupted at any time and that they continue to be implemented. (here)
Manipulation of facts
The account named “tavnikcitypdk” on TikTok has published a video through which it claimed to be statements of citizens in support of Bedri Hamza as the PDK candidate for prime minister. The description in the video is that citizens are disappointed with the current Prime Minister Albin Kurti. But after verification by hibrid.info, it turns out that the video was from the campaign for the local elections in 2021, when Hamza was running for mayor of Mitrovica. (here)