While monitoring content published on Facebook, hibrid.info has identified a case where a page that presents itself as a media publishes articles claiming to rely on its own internal sources. The page is called “Minuti Newspaper" and currently counts over 240 thousand followers.
One case that our team has noticed on this site is the publication of an article on March 18th claiming that “Reliable sources of Gazeta Minuti report that a political agreement has already been reached between the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), to compete together on a joint list in the upcoming parliamentary elections.". (here)
Hibrid.info searched Google regarding this claim, but the results did not show such information published by the media or credible sources. (here)
What happened to this content?
After online research, hibrid.info noticed that this article was shared by various Facebook pages (here, here, here and here), as well as from a media registered in Kosovo "KosovaPost.net". This medium published this content on its official Facebook page, referring to "Gazeta Minuti" as the source.
Since March 18, regarding this claim made by Gazeta Minuti, no credible media has reported on a possible agreement between now former President Vjosa Osmani and the LDK.
However, on Monday (April 6), the Gazeta Minuti website once again made the same claim. As of this writing, the post has garnered a total of 119 likes and 67 comments.
What happens when registered media quotes an anonymous page?
The media registered with the Business Registration Agency (ARBK), “KosovaPost.net”, published the same content as “Gazeta Minuti”, which page it also used as a reference in the description.
As of this writing, the post published on March 19 by “KosovaPost.net” has amassed a total of 90 likes, 92 comments and 6 shares. (see here)
So, content published as true by an anonymous Facebook page has managed to penetrate a registered media outlet and then be served to readers.
This phenomenon is known as "information laundering” (information cleansing), where unverified content passes through a chain of sources and gains false legitimacy.
About the page "Gazeta Minuti"
The page "Gazeta Minuti", the content it publishes on Facebook, posts on a website called nminut.infoThis website does not include any section that indicates an address, contact information, or information about who is behind it.
However, in the section "About"(about us)" on Facebook, this page has a German address, as well as a contact email. info@gazetaminuti.comAlso, the domain of the page "" is declared.http://gazetaminuti.com/", but when you click on it, a page opens whose content does not match the content shared on the Facebook page.
This section also presents accounts in "Youtube","Instagram"and "TikTok", but only the "TikTok" social media account is active with 1882 followers (at the time of treatment) and over 74 thousand likes in total, while it is not found on Youtube and Instagram.
On the website "http://gazetaminuti.com/", in the "About Us" section, it says: "GazetaMinuti.com is an independent news portal dedicated to providing fast, accurate and unbiased information. Our goal is to keep readers informed with timely updates and meaningful coverage, while maintaining strong journalistic standards and ethical reporting."
"The portal was founded in 2020 by Arbnor Buzhala, a journalist graduated from the University of Pristina. From the beginning, our mission has been clear: to build a trusted platform where news is treated responsibly, facts are verified, and public trust is respected."
However, Hibrid.info has requested the Kosovo Business Registration Agency (KBRA) regarding this website. The team has searched in several forms using the keywords “Gazeta Minuti”, “GazetaMinuti”, “GazetaMinuti.com” and “Minuti”, as well as the name that appears in “About Us” as its owner, “Arbnor Buzhala”, but the results do not show any businesses registered with these names. (see pictures below)
Hibrid.info has handled a total of 9 contents published by the page “Gazeta Minuti”. Based on our methodology, these contents have been assessed as “Fake news”, “Manipulation of facts”, “Unverified content” and “Disinformation”. (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here)
What should we keep in mind when we see such content?
When viewing content published online, it is important to keep a few basic things in mind to avoid falling prey to misinformation:
VERIFY THE SOURCE
Who published the content?
Is it a well-known medium or an unknown page claiming to be "media"?
Check if there is information about the editorial staff, contacts, or author.
Is the same event reported by other credible media outlets? If not, it is likely false or distorted.