The account named "Islamic faith"On TikTok, in some cases, it has published misinformation content that specifically implicates the Islamic religion, figures who practice it, or who identify with it.
The targets of this account's misinformation content are mainly clerics, believers, and personalities who may be associated with religion, mainly through criticism, accusations, or false claims with a negative connotation.
This publication model creates a continuous narrative that links the Islamic religion and its representatives to problematic developments or phenomena. The biased selection of cases and the constant negative emphasis creates a framework where the religion and its supporters are presented primarily as a source of controversy, conflict, or division.
So far, this account has published more than 150 videos. Since its first misinformation video on June 11, the account has managed to receive more than 100 thousand likes on its publications and more than 3300 followers. Its most viral publication has reached almost 600 thousand views – which was also misinformation.
Islam as an "internal enemy"
In many of its posts, the account in question included images of mosques or imams, presenting them as a source of crime or anti-Albanian influence. False claims were made about the arrests or deaths of imams, but also about their involvement in pedophilia cases.
The account has also used political figures in Kosovo and Albania, claiming discord as a result of “the organization of elections in Tirana by imams from Kosovo.” Hibrid.info covered two such cases of misinformation, published by the account in question (see here).
Through publications, the narrative is spread that Islam influences the selection of inappropriate political orientations.
The anti-Turkish narrative
Dominant in this account have been contents that portray Turkey as an invader and Muslims as “remnants of the Ottoman Empire, who must be expelled.” Mosques and imams are presented in publications as agents of Turkish interests in Kosovo and Albania, with the claim that they incite hatred against Western or national values.
In some cases, there have been calls for violent protests against mosques or facilities associated with those considered “foreign enemies” in reference to Turkey. There has been a false claim that the Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, told the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that “the remaining Ottomans in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia will be expelled.”
This narrative also includes claims that position Albania and Edi Rama in support of the Kurdish cause, against Erdogan's policy.
A similar narrative has developed towards Iran, but on a smaller scale than towards Turkey.
The pro-Israel narrative
In some of the publications, the account has promoted the idea of strong support from Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu for Albania and Kosovo, creating the narrative that Israel is the main ally against external threats.
Through the symbols of the flags, an emotional sense of "covenant" between allies is presented.
There have been false claims of military ultimatums from Israel allegedly for Serbia, or even the creation of a military alliance with Kosovo. In some images of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, false quotes have been placed about his assessments of Albanians.
"Religious" identity as bait
The account in question uses a name associated with Islam and is likely to initially attract clicks and followers from believers or people curious about religion. This is considered a tactic of “identity manipulation.”
But once the user logs in, they are confronted with anti-Islamic narratives. This is known as an influence operations tactic (influence operations) with the aim of infiltrating specific narratives to an audience that would not follow them in normal situations.
How to recognize that it is a misinformation page?
- Lack of resources: The claims do not cite serious media outlets, news agencies, or official documents.
- Sensational language: The use of words like "Final Ultimatum", "Scandal", "Shocking" in capital letters placed above the video should always be followed with caution.
- Repeating the same videos: The same video of the person with the locket or Netanyahu has been posted several times in a row to artificially increase viewership through the algorithm.