Prepared by: Fatbardh Dema
Although the date for the new parliamentary elections in the country has not yet been set, which should be held no later than February of next year, inaccurate content related to individuals or political parties has begun to be distributed on social media.
At the beginning of the year, the topic of early elections circulated widely in the media, as the current government entered the last year of its mandate, while opposition parties considered 2024 as an election year. (here and here)
As a result, hibrid.info has noticed in recent months an increase in misinformation content on social media regarding the topic of elections.
Some of the content used false statements attributed to Kosovar politicians. Other content manipulated the results of old polls, presenting them as current, and fake polls were also published.
Below you will find some of this content covered by Hibrid.info:
- A TikTok account, on June 7, published a photo that it claimed was the numbers from a recent poll for the race for prime minister in the upcoming elections in Kosovo.
After verification by hibrid.info, it turns out that there has been no recent reporting on these figures and that the image published in the background was taken from an earlier publication by "telegrafi.com", and then the false figures were added to it. (see here)
- On June 13, an Albanian-language information portal published an article claiming that a survey was conducted in June by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), reflecting citizens' support for political parties in Kosovo.
Hibrid.info contacted representatives of this organization in Kosovo. They completely denied the content, calling it "fake news."
NDI also said via e-mail that "The attribution of this report is not true and does not belong to NDI." (see here)
- On the social media TikTok, on June 20, an image was published with the caption that claims that Lumir Abdixhiku, chairman of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), has declared that they are considering the possibility of a pre-election or post-election coalition with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), to remove Albin Kurti from power.
Hibrid.info has found that none of Abdixhiku's public statements match what is claimed in the above content. (see here)
- Through a photo published on the social network TikTok on June 26, it has been claimed that the US Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, supports Bedri Hamza of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) for prime minister of the country.
Hibrid.info has not found any article about Hovenier's alleged support for Hamza or any other candidate. The photo was taken from Hamza's Facebook account. He and the US ambassador are seen chatting during an event marking the 25th anniversary of the OSCE mission in Kosovo on June 25. (see here)
- On June 27, a Facebook account claimed that the mayor of South Mitrovica, Bedri Hamza, during a meeting opposed the idea of opening the Ibar Bridge.
After conducting research, hibrid.info has not found any published information regarding this, which would support the claim from the above-mentioned account. (see here)
- A piece of content was published on TikTok on June 27, claiming that the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) candidate for prime minister, Bedri Hamza, has declared that if he takes office, he will increase pensions for war veterans to 1500 euros.
Hibrid.info, after conducting research, has confirmed that the mayor of the South Mitrovica municipality has not publicly mentioned the claimed amount for the increase in pensions for this category. (see here)
- Through a photo published on TikTok, it was claimed that the youth are not going to Albin Kurti's meetings and that he is losing the support of the citizens. The photo shows a scene from a rally, where some of the chairs are seen empty.
After verifying the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that the footage was taken from the International Conference organized on June 25 by the Youth for SELF-SECURITY!. Several photographs from this event have been published on the official Facebook page of this movement, which show that the hall was full. (see here)
- A post on TikTok claimed to have published a new survey regarding the parliamentary elections in Kosovo.
After verification, hibrid.info has found that this publication uses data from an old survey. The names of the political parties leading in the survey have even been changed. (see here)
- Through a post on TikTok, it was claimed that an American portal had conducted a survey for the next prime minister of Kosovo.
The post contained an image claiming that the "Secure America Now" Facebook page had released the results of a poll about the elections in Kosovo.
After verification by hibrid.info, it turns out that the content is completely false. The page promoted by the TikTok account has not made any such publications related to surveys for Kosovo. (see here)