Disinformation and fake news are the two categories that have dominated last week in terms of published misinformation.
Disinformation was published on social media and news portals related to false claims that a senior NATO general was killed in Ukraine; that the director of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, Petar Petkovic, was denied entry to Kosovo; that Shkelzen Maliqi stated that 007 had entered northern Kosovo; that Kurti rejected the Association even though we insisted, an old statement by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, with the claim to be presented as current.
Fake news was published on social media (TikTok and Facebook) with false claims that there were problems between the Kosovo Special Unit and that of Serbia; a video material was published with the claim that the footage depicts migrants who are expected to be brought to Albania; another video material was published with the claim that it depicts footage of gunfire in the north; that Lumir Abdixhiku has introduced Isa Mustafa as the LDK candidate for prime minister.
The clickbait article was published on an information portal when a statement about the need for a meeting was presented as a meeting between the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić; and in an article about Pristina bunkers, it was illustrated with photographs of the bunker in the USA.
Conspiracy theory from the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, who, despite the fact that the militant group, the Islamic State (ISIS), claimed responsibility for the armed attack on a concert hall near Moscow on March 22, 2024, blames Ukraine for links with this group, adding that this country is even surpassing Kosovo in terms of terrorism.
Deceptive content was published on social media which involved false claims of granting loans and selling a fake medical product for restoring eyesight.
Clickbait
The information portal named “ntv.al” published on March 21 an article titled “Kurti meets with Vučić, the EU tells what for and gives details”. While in the content, more precisely at the top, it refers to a statement by the European Union (EU) spokesperson, who expressed the need for a high-level meeting between the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia, to discuss the implementation of the Basic Agreement, without indicating when this meeting could take place. The claim presented in the title of this article, which informs about a meeting between Prime Minister Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, is not accurate and is not reflected in the content of this same article. (here)
Several news portals have published an article today regarding Pristina bunkers titled “Inside Pristina bunkers, which are intended in case of any natural disaster or any other danger”. After verifying the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that the illustrative photo used in the article does not depict the entrance to any Pristina bunker. (here)
Fake news
A TikTok account named “mtrks25” posted a video (March 24) showing a soldier near an overturned military vehicle. The account captioned the video, claiming that the footage was shot near the border with Serbia and that there were “problems” between the Kosovo Special Unit and the Serbian Special Unit. After fact-checking with the automated program “InVID,” hibrid.info confirmed that this claim is false and that the footage shows the overturning of a military vehicle on Highway 401 in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. (here)
The Facebook account “Lule Gjeli” has published (March 25) a video claiming that the footage depicts migrants who are expected to be brought to Albania. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the claim made by the “Lule Gjeli” account is false. Using the automated program “InVid”, hibrid.info has managed to confirm that the video is old, published in September 2023, and that the footage depicts migrants from Tunisia who had arrived in Lampedusa, Italy. (here)
A TikTok account named “mtrks25” has published (March 25) a video material, which shows footage of gunfire. The author of this publication has placed the caption “Dhezen Alarmat pas gunfires ne kufie” and also attached tags that claim that it is about an event that took place in Kosovo. After verification by hibrid.info, the same footage was found published earlier by other sources, which indicate that the footage shows the fighting in Ukraine, and the claim of gunfires on the border, in our country, has not been confirmed by official authorities. (here)
A Facebook account named “Fleta Press” published (March 28) an image showing the current leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lumir Abdixhiku, next to the former leader of this party, Isa Mustafa. While the publication contains the caption “Latest news”, the image is accompanied by text claiming that Lumir Abdixhiku has introduced Isa Mustafa as the LDK candidate for prime minister. After checking and verifying the facts by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that this claim is not true. (here)
Conspiracy theory
In the Russian media, the Serbian-language services have published a statement by the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, regarding the armed attack on a concert hall near Moscow on March 22, 2024. Despite the fact that the militant group, the Islamic State (ISIS), took responsibility for this attack, Zakharova blamed Ukraine for connections with this group, adding that this country is also surpassing Kosovo in terms of terrorism. Kosovo has a state strategy for preventing and combating terrorism and is part of international organizations against the militant group, the Islamic State (ISIS). (here)
disinformation
A Facebook page named "Supporters of Albin Kurti" published (March 24) an image of the director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian government, Petar Petkovic, with the caption that presents his statement, "Albin Kurti also today banned me from entering Kosovo". But after fact-checking by hibrid.info, it was found that this statement by Pektovic was made in July 2022, when the latter was not allowed to enter Kosovo (here), which is not clarified in the content published by the page in question. Based also on the comments in the publication, hibrid.info assesses that the lack of clarification of the time context of the incident may make readers think that the event is current. (here)
The information portal “ntv.al” has published (March 26) an article titled “007 has entered northern Kosovo, Kurti is an old-fashioned leftist”. After researching the content, hibrid.info has found that the article refers to an interview with the publicist, Shkelzen Maliqi, given to the Serbian-language newspaper, “danas.rs”. However, hibrid.info has found that the content of the article does not include the claim presented in the title, that Maliqi has declared that 007 – a fictional character from the world of film – has entered northern Kosovo. (here)
The Facebook page “The Reis” published (March 27) a status stating “Local sources report that a senior NATO general has been killed in Ukraine.” After verification by hibrid.info, no credible source was found to confirm the claim in this status. The fact that this claim was initially published in Russian-language media, hibrid.info has assessed as sufficient basis for addressing this claim. (here)
Several Facebook pages published (March 29) an image with the caption “Serious, parents beat 10-month-old baby for suffocation / watch the full video in the first comment”. Attached to the image in the comment is a link to the article that reported the incident, published by a dubious portal called “new.focuslajme.mk”. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that the article in question does not contain a video, as warned in the caption of the photo published by the Facebook pages that reported the incident. (here)
A Facebook account named “Fleta Press” published (March 29) an image of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, with the caption attached to the photo, which presents his statement, “Kurti rejected the Association even though we insisted”. The account in question has attached to this publication a caption claiming that the content in question is “Latest news!” However, after verifying the facts, it was found that this statement presented by Serbian President Vučić was made on February 27, 2023 by the latter. Reposting an old news item presenting it as the latest news, based also on the number of followers (7 thousand) of this account, can be read by the audience as a current event. (here)
Lies
A suspicious website named “xk3.ndconsen.com” promotes a medical product called “O CAPS”, claiming that it is for sale and that it helps restore vision, which affects all ages. The promotional content also mentions the name of a person “Jakup Cani” attached to a portrait of a man, who is claimed to be Albanian and who discovered this medical product. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the photo used of this man is found on online photography platforms and that there is no evidence that he is Albanian, or that he is called Jakup Cani. Also, the product “O CAPS” that claims to help restore vision is a fake product. (here)
The “Personal Loan” page on Facebook published a post on March 21 claiming to offer business loans of up to 25 euros with the option to start paying after three months. Hibrid.info has verified the facts about this campaign, and it has been confirmed that this page published a post that is a false advertisement. After research conducted through online search engines, hibrid.info has managed to confirm that the “Personal Loan” page took the post from the advertisement of the microfinance institution “FINCA” in Kosovo, from which it subsequently removed the identifying logo. (here)