A content has been published that presents an image (imitating the appearance of a chronicle or news from "Top Channel" television), claiming that the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, has closed the border with Kosovo and has called on the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, with the message: "Either stop the extremists or send the army into Kosovo".
Also, in the red box below, an alleged statement of his is quoted which states: "We will no longer allow any provocations on the border. If you do not stop the extremists who threaten stability in the region, Albania will send the army into Kosovo."
In the background of the image are photographs of Edi Rama and Albin Kurti, a border crossing point with the inscription "Closed border"and military images."
The content was posted on Wednesday (October 21) on TikTok by an account called “TRONEX” (see here). The same was also published on Facebook by the page named "TV Apollon".
What's wrong with the content?
Rama did not make the alleged statement and the image in question is generated with AI.
As of the time of writing, this TikTok post has received over 380 thousand views, over 6 thousand likes, and 760 comments.
While on Facebook, it has over 540 thousand views, 3 thousand 200 likes and over 2 thousand 800 comments.
In both posts, the possibility that the audience would perceive the claim as credible was noted in most of the comments.
Verification using the online tool "Google Lens" did not reveal any reporting or image published by credible media that could confirm the claim (see here).
While the results proving that Rama made the alleged statement were not found on the Facebook page or the official YouTube channel of "Top Channel" television, whose logo is seen in the image in question (see here and here).
Furthermore, no statement consistent with the claim was found in the posts on Prime Minister Rama's personal social media accounts (see here and here).
The latest research was conducted via a Google search, with the keywords “Edi Rama closes the border with Kosovo”. However, the results did not show any articles that formalized the claim addressed in this text (see here).
Therefore, in the absence of concrete results that would confirm the reporting in question, hibrid.info analyzed the published image. Analysis through “HiveModeration”, an online tool that assesses the possibility of generating audiovisual content with artificial intelligence (AI), showed that there is a high probability that the image was created through this technology.
Analyze
The image depicts the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, in a view that imitates the reporting of the "Top Channel" television, creating the impression that he has closed the border with Kosovo and threatened to send the army to the country if Prime Minister Albin Kurti does not stop the people he describes as "extremists".
However, searches through "Google Lens" and "Google", as well as checking publications on the official channels of "Top Channel" television and Edi Rama, have not found evidence supporting the claim.
Meanwhile, analysis through the "HiveModeration" tool has shown a high possibility that the image was generated by artificial intelligence.
Therefore, based on its work methodology, Hibrid.info assesses this content as "Fake News".
rationale
The “Fake News” rating is given to informational content that is entirely fabricated or that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be defined as having been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.