Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
A video has been published showing images of flooding caused by rain, with the claim that it is about a situation that occurred in Pristina.
it CONTENT was posted on Wednesday (January 7) on TikTok by an account named "edmonndk".
What's wrong with the content?
Hibrid.info found that the video was generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
The video shows a journalist reporting from the field, where cars are seen left in the water, a woman with a child being helped to move by boat, and a measuring scale showing the water level after the rainfall, about 30 centimeters.
Post description:
"In Pristina, the situation caused by the floods is worsening by the minute.
Heavy rainfall has intensified significantly in recent hours, causing an alarming rise in water levels. In some areas of the city, the level has exceeded 50 centimeters, flooding main roads and entire neighborhoods.
Roads are completely blocked, while dozens of vehicles are left under water. Traffic is practically impossible in almost the entire city.
As a result, many citizens have remained isolated and trapped in their homes or personal vehicles, while "
As of the time of this treatment, this content has received over 550 thousand views, over 5 thousand likes and has nearly 100 comments, from the content of which it can be assessed that users may perceive the content as real.
Hibrid.info has checked for announcements from the Emergency Management Agency (EMA), which is a government body for managing emergency situations. From the latest posts of this government body on its Facebook page, it is understood that in Kosovo during this week, in certain areas, there have been floods after rainfall (see here). In a more specific announcement by the EMA, the municipalities affected by the floods are mentioned as Fushë Kosova, Drenas, Malisheva, Rahovec, Klina, Mitrovica, Vushtrri, Skenderaj and Gjakova (see here).
Because Pristina is not among the municipalities most affected by this situation, hibrid.info has checked the authenticity of the video material handled, through “HiveModeration.com”, a platform that assesses whether content may have been generated by AI. The results after checking show a high possibility that this video contains AI-generated content.
Hibrid.info also researched using the search engine "Google", with the words "flood Pristina" (see here). From the search results for articles from the last seven days, video materials were found that show flooding in Pristina as well, but not to the extent seen in the video material discussed (see here).
Analyze:
A flooding situation in Pristina is presented through a video generated by artificial intelligence.
Due to the visibility and content in the comments, it is estimated that there is a possibility that the public will perceive the content as true.
Verifications show that, although there were floods in several municipalities in Kosovo, Pristina was not among the most affected areas and the images do not match official reports.
Therefore, based on the working methodology, hibrid.info assesses the content as "Fraud".
Reasoning:
The “Deception” rating is given to informational content that is manipulated in terms of visual (deepfake, cheapfake), audio, or textual content to deceive the audience. This form of deception is usually used to produce false and manipulated content.