Prepared by: Fatbardh Dema
The account named " has received over a million views on TikTok"Focus Pristina" in just 10 days since the first video was released.
"Direct info from daily life in Pristina," the description says. compute which, by the time it is being handled by hibrid.info, has published ten videos.
Why are the contents of this account being processed?
The account in question, through several videos, has misinformed a significant number of people who use the social media TikTok. This is mostly noticeable from the comments that the published content has received. After verification by hibrid.info, it turns out that most of the videos published by this account are not based on facts.
A content of this account, hibrid.info, covered last week. It was claimed that the bus of the Icelandic national football team was damaged by some Kosovo fans, but this was not found in any substantiated reporting. (see here)
The account has also published another fake content regarding the Kosovo-Iceland match. It has been claimed that “Several Icelandic fans have been arrested after they attempted to physically assault Milot Rashica.". But neither this has been found in any credible source nor in police reports.
First video published by the "Focus Prishtina" account was with the caption "live accident in Pristina", while the footage did not show any accident. Comments show that people have watched the video and then commented indicating that it is fake content.
Other content was the claim that the image presents a "bus with Serbian license plates and flag driving around Pristina". But the footage shows a flag with Kosovo license plates.
The most viral publication of the account in question It was fake news that Prime Minister Albin Kurti had announced to the citizens of Pristina that from 00:00 to 07:00 the large circle at the entrance to Pristina would be closed to traffic. "The reason is not yet known," the description says. This content, which cannot be found in any credible information source, has received over 190 thousand views and has over 1180 likes and 25 comments.
Other viral content from the "Focus Prishtina" account is that with claims about shutdown of businesses and DECISIONS for the collapse of several buildings. For none of these, hibrid.info has found any official announcements.
In one case, in a comment, the "Focus Prishtina" account approved a comment that was addressed to it with the words that this is a proper way to go viral, based on false content.
Recent reports from hibrid.info have shown that the social platform TikTok is becoming the main one for spreading misinformation. Last year (2024) there was an increasing trend of publishing misinformation encountered by hibrid.info on this social media. (see here and here)