For the period August 10–15, unverified content and manipulation of facts dominated misinformation monitoring.
The unverified content was mainly distributed on Facebook and suspicious websites, with topics related to local events and political developments in Kosovo. On August 10–11, several social media sites published a video of an accident in Ankara, Turkey, falsely presenting it as an accident that occurred in Skenderaj. Meanwhile, the Facebook page “Gazeta Minuti” and the website blog.foodsfact.org published the unconfirmed claim that Albin Kurti is considering two non-partisan names for the post of President of Kosovo. Verification did not find confirmation from credible sources, while the website that published the claim did not provide clear data on the authorship and source of the information.
In the “Fact Manipulation” category, the monitored content was published mainly on Facebook and online portals, focusing on political and security topics. On August 11, the Facebook account “Dekada e Re” published a video with a statement by Albin Kurti about the crimes committed during the war and the Special Court, presenting it out of context as if Kurti had stated that the most monstrous crimes were committed by Albanians. In another case, some online media published the claim that Albania is first in the world for cybersecurity, misinterpreting its ranking in the National Cyber Security Index (NCSI). The ranking mainly measures the state’s readiness and capacities to prevent and manage cyber threats and is not a direct measurement of a country’s overall level of cybersecurity.
In the “Clickbait” and “clickbait/disinformation” categories, the content was published mainly on Facebook and online portals in Serbian, with social and political topics. The Facebook pages “Post Lajmee” and “Trendi.info” published the headline that pensions have been increased for one category by 134 euros, without specifying that it was about pensioners in Croatia, while the details became clear only after clicking on the link. Meanwhile, the Serbian-language portal “Vaseljenska.net” published an article claiming that the Swedish portal “Samnytt” had reported on the arrest of children in Kosovo for “three fingers”. Verification showed that it was an opinion/debate text, written by the author Tijana Ivkovic, and not a report by the Samnytt editorial staff, while the headline of “Vaseljenska.net” presented it as direct news.
In the “Fake News” category, the content was published mainly on Facebook, with false claims related to political developments in Kosovo and international relations. In the “ILIRET and Illyrian Peninsula” group, the account “Samir Dshswe Kuçi” published a false quote attributed to the President of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, according to which he had stated that the Government of Kosovo and Albin Kurti were facing opponents paid by Vučić. Verification in credible sources and on the official website of the Presidency of Croatia found no evidence for such a statement. Meanwhile, in the “Half-true statement” category, the leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, claimed that Kosovo is being used by Sweden to transfer convicted foreign citizens. Although Kosovo and Sweden have signed an agreement on the transfer of convicted persons, there is no evidence that Sweden is currently transferring prisoners to Kosovo or that it has an agreement on the rental of Kosovo prisons; Such an agreement exists with Denmark, which provides for 300 prison places in Kosovo.
Clickbait
“Latest News: Pensions for this category are being increased by 134 euros more” is the description of a post published on Facebook by the pages “Post Lajmee” and “Trendi.info”. After clicking on the links included in these posts, namely “trend.ballkantoday.com” and “post.infofirst.net”, it becomes clear that the news refers to pensioners in Croatia. In the articles published on these websites, the details of the news are clarified only after the user clicks on the link. The content of the articles makes it known that it is about the increase in pensions for war veterans in Croatia, who have returned to the labor market after the end of the war. (here)
Clickbait/Disinformation
The Serbian-language portal “Vaseljenska.net” published on August 10 an article titled “SWEDEN PORTAL SAMNYTT: In Kosovo, children are arrested for three fingers!” After verifying the facts, Hibrid.info found that the content published on the Swedish portal “Samnytt.se” is not a report by the editorial staff of this portal, but a text in the opinion/debate category, written by the author Tijana Ivkovic. However, “Vaseljenska.net” does not clarify in the title that it is an opinion text, creating the impression that it is a direct report by the Swedish portal. (here)
Fake news
A piece of content has been published on Facebook claiming that Croatian President Zoran Milanović has stated “The Government of Kosovo and Albin Kurti are facing opponents paid by Vučić”. This content was published in the group “ILIRET and the Illyrian Peninsula” by the account “Samir Dshswe Kuçi”. Checks of credible sources and the official website of the Presidency of Croatia found no evidence that Milanović made this statement. The same claim has been circulating on Facebook since 2023, while a similar claim was verified by hibrid.info in December 2025. (here)
Unverified content
Several media outlets published a video on their social media pages on Monday and Tuesday (August 10-11) showing a traffic accident, accompanied by the claim that the incident took place in Skenderaj, Kosovo. The video description states: “Accident in Skenderaj, but what caught the eye was the gesture of the two drivers. While waiting for the police, they remained calm and respectful, and even gave each other water. A small gesture that proves that calm, respect and humanity are worth more than any debate. Respect for both!” Searches through verification of the footage show that the video was not shot in Skenderaj. It shows an accident that occurred in Ankara, Turkey. (here)
The Facebook page “Gazeta Minuti” has published a claim that Albin Kurti is considering two non-partisan names for the post of president of Kosovo, claiming that the names are being kept out of public view and that a final decision has not yet been made. The same claim was also published on the website “blog.foodsfact.org”, which presents elements that raise doubts about its reliability. Verification carried out by Hibrid.info has not found confirmation of this information in the media or credible sources. Also, the website where the article was published does not provide clear data on ownership, address or contact methods, making it impossible to identify the source of the information. (here)
Lies
An image is circulating on social media, which claims to show a joint photo of Skender Llugiqi and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) MP, Time Kadrijaj. The post claims that the photo was obtained by the editorial staff of “Kronikat e Barutit” and uses it to support the claim that Llugiqi is “their operative well integrated into clandestine structures” and that he was sent to the Parliament with a “prepared script” to make provocative statements. The photo has been manipulated by taking the image of Kadrijaj from another photo and placing it next to Llugiqi in a new composition. The image is also accompanied by the Gemini sign, which indicates the use of an artificial intelligence tool during processing. (here)
Manipulation of facts
The Facebook account “Dekada e Re” published on August 11 a piece of content featuring Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti during a speech in the Parliament. In the video, Kurti is seen saying “Serbs have committed more crimes, but the most monstrous crimes have been committed by Albanians. Organ harvesting and trafficking”. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that this was a snip of Kurti’s statement and taken out of context. The removed part shows that Kurti was describing a possible claim after the formation of the Special Court, not his position that Albanians have committed more monstrous crimes. (here)
The headlines of some media articles claim that Albania is the first in the world for cybersecurity, referring to its ranking in the National Cyber Security Index (NCSI). However, this claim is misinterpreted, as the NCSI mainly measures the readiness of states to prevent cyber threats and manage incidents, through the assessment of the capacities of central governments, but does not fully measure how effective these measures are in practice or how exposed a state is to cyber attacks and vulnerabilities. For this reason, the ranking in the NCSI is not enough to determine which state has the highest level of cybersecurity in the world. (here)
Half-truth statement
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, claimed that Kosovo is currently being used by Sweden to transfer convicted foreign nationals, citing this as an example of his party’s plan to send convicted persons to third countries. Kosovo and Sweden signed three agreements on legal cooperation in 2024, including an agreement on the transfer of convicted persons. However, it is not clear from the available data that this agreement foresees the leasing of prison space in Kosovo by Sweden or that Sweden is currently transferring prisoners to Kosovo to serve their sentences. Kosovo has such an agreement with Denmark. It foresees that Denmark will lease 300 places in the Correctional Centre in Gjilan for convicted persons in Denmark, mainly third-country nationals against whom a deportation decision has been made. The first Danish prisoners are expected to be transferred to Kosovo in 2027. (here)