Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
Through a post published today (August 8) on the social media TikTok, it is claimed that former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi has died.
The post was published by the account named "xaxa_baba_".
The truth?
Hibrid.info has researched through online search engines and the results do not show any information published by credible sources to confirm this claim.
Hibrid.info has searched Google with the keywords "Hashim Thaçi dies", and the results do not show any published information. (see here)
Also, to further confirm that this claim is false, Hibrid.info has also checked the official website of the political entity “Democratic Party of Kosovo”, where Thaçi was the chairman. There is no announcement from the party on this page confirming his death, as claimed in the post in question. (see here)
As of the publication of this article, the TikTok post has managed to accumulate over 10 thousand views, 74 reactions, and 35 comments. (see photo below)
About the TikTok account “xaxa_baba_”
This account has published dozens of similar posts, using names and images of various people, who it falsely claims have passed away. (see here).
Another important element is that, through these posts, the account has managed to accumulate nearly 80 thousand likes and around 4 thousand 500 followers.
Analyze:
On August 8, a video was published on TikTok by the account "xaxa_baba_", claiming that former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi had died.
Hibrid.info verified the claim through online Google searches with the keywords “Hashim Thaçi dies” and found no information from reliable sources to confirm the news. The official website of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, where Thaçi was chairman, was also checked, and there was no announcement of such an event.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Fake News".
Reasoning:
The “Fake News” rating is given to informational content that is entirely fabricated or that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be defined as having been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.