Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj
According to monitoring data, over the past week, disinformation has been the main form of information disorder in traditional and digital media.
During the beginning of August 2025, several pieces of misinformation were published on social networks, mainly on Facebook. On August 2, the “VukFeNix” account shared a video of an arrest by ICE in the US, claiming that the detainee was an Albanian with a criminal past, while verification showed that it was a Vietnamese citizen. The “Kosova Report” page shared two pieces of content to deny the hunger crisis in Gaza: a video from a market in Al-Sahaba and a photo of a girl, claiming that the situation was not alarming. Verifications confirmed that the videos did not represent the general reality and that the girl was suffering from the consequences of hunger. Meanwhile, on August 4, the “Bota Islame” page published the claim that Finland had officially recognized Palestine as a state, which turned out to be incorrect since full recognition has not yet been made.
In early August 2025, several cases of clickbait headlines were identified on Albanian-language online portals. On August 3 and 4, the portals paparaci.com and indexonline.com published articles with the titles “Woman puts 2-year-old daughter in suitcase during bus trip” and “Mother hides 2-year-old daughter in suitcase and puts her in the trunk of the bus”, without specifying that the event had taken place in New Zealand — a fact that was only revealed after reading the content. On August 7, Kosova-sot.info published the article “Military helicopter crashes, 8 people die” leaving it unclear that the incident had taken place in Ghana, while the illustrative photo was from Kosovo in 1999 and was not related to the event.
In early August 2025, several cases of fake news were published on social networks. On August 2, the “Gazeta Selam” Facebook page claimed that Turkish media had reported on the sending of over 300 Serbian soldiers to northern Kosovo with student identification documents, but hibrid.info’s research did not find any such publication in Turkish or Albanian media. On August 8, on TikTok, the “xaxa_baba_” account shared a post claiming that former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi had died. However, verification showed that this claim was not supported by any credible source.
disinformation
A video has been released showing the moment when US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrest a person. This video was published on August 2 by the account named “VukFeNix” with the claim that the arrested person is a person of Albanian nationality and that he has a criminal record. After verification of the facts carried out by hibrid.info, it was found that the person in question is from Vietnam, not Albanian. (here)
The Facebook page “Kosova Report” has shared two pieces of content, a video and a photo, with the aim of denying the hunger crisis in Gaza. The video, which is claimed to have been shot in a market in Al-Sahaba, shows images of fruits and vegetables, being used as evidence that there is no food shortage in Gaza. While in another post, which shows a little girl in her mother’s arms, the page claims that she has not lost the ability to walk as a result of hunger. After verification by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that the images of the market are authentic, but they do not represent the general situation in Gaza. According to journalist Majdi Fathi, who made the video, the prices of products are very high and basic foods are lacking, which excludes the possibility that most residents have access to them. Meanwhile, the claim about the girl was denied through an article by Anadolu Agency, which confirms that her health condition has seriously deteriorated as a result of malnutrition and hunger. (here)
The Facebook page “Bota Islame” published a post on Monday (August 4) claiming that Finland has officially recognized Palestine as a sovereign state. Finland has not yet made a full diplomatic recognition of the state of Palestine. President Alexander Stubb has stated that he is ready to sign the recognition, if the government proposes it, but so far there has been no official proposal from the government to be approved. (here)
Clickbait
The news portals paparaci.com and indexonline.com published on Sunday and Monday (July 3–4) articles with the titles: “Woman puts 2-year-old daughter in suitcase during bus trip” and “Mother hides 2-year-old daughter in suitcase and puts her in bus trunk”. The problem with the headlines in question is that they are generalizations and do not indicate the location of the incident. The same ones lack information that the case occurred in New Zealand, which is understood only after opening the articles and reading the full contents. (here)
An article titled “Military helicopter crashes, 8 people die” was published, accompanied by a photograph showing three helicopters near a bridge. This article was published (August 7) by the Albanian-language online medium “Kosova-sot.info”. After research conducted by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that the title is a generalization that does not clarify that the event took place in the state of Ghana. While the photograph was taken in Kosovo during 1999. (here)
Fake news
Through a post published on Facebook, it is alleged that Turkish media have reported that Serbia has recently sent over 300 soldiers to northern Kosovo, who have entered the territory with identification documents as Serbian students. This post was published on August 2 by the “Gazeta Selam” page on Facebook. After online research conducted by hibrid.info, this information has not been found published in any Turkish media, as claimed by the aforementioned page. Also, this claim was not found published by the Albanian media either. (here)
Through a post published (August 8) on the social media TikTok, it is claimed that the former president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, has died. The post was published by the account with the name “xaxa_baba_”. Hibrid.info has researched through online search engines and the results do not show any information published by credible sources to confirm this claim. (here)