Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj
In the period 15–21 December 2025, media and social networks in Kosovo faced a pronounced presence of misinformation, where fake news and distortion of facts took center stage in public discourse.
The fake news was published mainly on the social network Facebook, through pages such as “Kosova Report”, “Prishtina ime”, “Gazeta 17 Shkurti” and “Kosova e Re”, and dealt with highly sensitive political and social topics. One of them was related to the parliamentary elections, namely with an untrue claim that the Democratic League of Kosovo had published a poll in which it ranked first, while the other was related to the energy sector, spreading false information about the start of “3 by 3” electricity reductions, without relying on official sources or announcements.
The manipulation of facts has been mainly evidenced on the TikTok platform, where videos and photos have been published that present the results of public opinion measurements as if they were current polls on the support of political entities, although this is old data recirculated during the election campaign for the parliamentary elections of December 28. Such content has been distributed by the accounts “cari1.fat” and “kinggggg_speed”. Also, a manipulated video has been published on TikTok by the account “destiny”, where through the excerpt of a statement by former President Hashim Thaçi, the false impression has been created that he has said that he did not join the KLA, distorting the meaning of his original statement.
Disinformation and conspiracy theories have been spread primarily through Serbian-language channels on the Telegram platform, such as “КОРИДОР ✞︎” and “БУНКЕР”. This content has re-uploaded old and unfounded narratives, such as the claim that the murder of six young Serbs in the “Panda” cafe in Peja in 1998 was carried out by “Albanian terrorists”, although this version has been rejected even by senior Serbian officials after the war. The same channel has also promoted a conspiracy theory regarding the damage to the Orthodox cemetery in Plemetin, where without any evidence, Albanians have been blamed, despite the fact that the authorities have not disclosed the ethnicity of those arrested.
Meanwhile, half-truths and clickbait content have also been identified in the media and public discourse in Kosovo. A statement by Acting Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi on the lifting of European Union measures was misinterpreted by Arlind Manjhuka and Hekuran Murati, as it only referred to the lifting of some of the measures and not all of them. At the same time, some media used misleading headlines for extreme weather forecasts, warning of temperatures down to -20 degrees, without clarifying the unofficial source of the information and overlooking the fact that official forecasts and warnings in Kosovo are published exclusively by the Kosovo Hydrometeorological Institute.
Fake news
On social media Facebook, pages such as “Kosova Report”, “Prishtina ime” and “Gazeta 17 Shkurti” published a post on Saturday (December 13) claiming that the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) has published a poll. The caption of this post reads “LDK ranks first in these elections according to a poll that they say they conducted themselves!”. While the caption of the photo includes figures such as, “LDK: 54.3%, PDK: 23.2% and LVV:17.2%”, with the claim that “LDK publishes online polls”. After research conducted by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that the LDK has not published any public opinion polls for the parliamentary elections that are expected to be held on December 28. (here)
Through a Facebook post, a page claimed that “3 by 3” power cuts will begin in Kosovo from December 19. The post was made by the page “"New Kosovo" on December 18. The description with this claim was placed on an image that read: “KOSTT warns of power reductions in several large municipalities, due to increased energy consumption”. Such a claim has not been found published in any credible media or source of information. KOSTT, as the responsible authority, has warned that if citizens do not save electricity, there is a possibility of controlled reductions, without specifying the form or date. (here)
disinformation
The Serbian-language channels “КОРИДОР ✞︎” and “БУНКЕР” on Telegram claim that on December 14, 1998, six young Serbs were killed in an attack on the “Panda” cafe in Peja by “Albanian terrorists”. This claim was made at the time by the leaders of the Serbian state, including Milošević, but no evidence has ever been provided to support such a claim. Even after the war, the current president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has denied on two specific occasions that the perpetrators of this attack were Albanians. (here)
Half-true statement
On Tuesday (December 16), acting Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi said he had received a letter from the European Union’s director-general for enlargement, Gert Jan Koopman, in which, according to Bislimi, Kosovo has been stripped of most EU measures. In the letter published by Bislimi, Koopman specifically states: “… the Commission will remove some of the EU measures…” But Arlind Manjhuka, spokesman for the Vetëvendosje Movement and Hekuran Murati political entity that governs the country, said that Kosovo is currently without EU measures, without clarifying that it is about the removal of some of the measures. (here)
Conspiracy theory
The Serbian Telegram channel “БУНКЕР” (BUNKER) claimed that Albanians had toppled and destroyed two tombstones in the new Orthodox cemetery in Plemetin, near Obiliq. However, this claim does not provide any facts or evidence that prove that the perpetrators were Albanians. Kosovo police announced on December 16 that six people suspected of damaging cemeteries or corpses had been arrested, but the official announcement did not mention the ethnicity of the suspects. (here)
Clickbait/Unverified Content
The claim in the headlines of some media outlets warning of snow and frost for the end of the year and temperatures of up to -20 degrees in Kosovo is misleading. There is no explanation that this warning came from Sherif Gosalci, part of the AshNA. Also, the official weather forecast and early warning of possible natural disasters of hydrometeorological origin in Kosovo is the exclusive domain of the IHMK. (here)
Manipulation of facts
A video and photos are published, showing the results of public opinion surveys that are claimed to be surveys that show support for political entities in our country. Both content items were published on TikTok. The photo was published by the account named “cari1.fat”, while the video was published by the account named “kinggggg_speed”. Both content items show the results of surveys conducted in the past, while they are being published now at a time when the country is in an election campaign on the eve of the parliamentary elections on December 28. (here)
A video posted on TikTok claims that former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi has stated that he was not one of those who joined the Kosovo Liberation Army. “Thaci: I am not one of those who joined the KLA…” is the caption on the 5-second video in which Thaçi speaks. The video was posted by the “destiny” account on December 18. So far, it has received more than 60 thousand views, over 1000 likes and over 40 comments. The TikTok video, which claims that Hashim Thaçi has said that he did not join the KLA, is manipulated by cutting off the statement. Based on the cutting off on TikTok and the comments on the video, it can be left with the impression that Thaçi has said that he was not part of the KLA. (here)