Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
Several Albanian-language news portals, on Thursday (August 21), shared the article titled "Senior US official issues firm 'order' to Kurti: Don't make the mistake of excluding Serbian List from the elections".
Accordingly, the article was published by online media as "Periscope.com","Jepize.com","Lajmi.net”And“Kfvagency.com".
What's wrong with this title?
After fact-checking conducted by hibrid.info, it was determined that the title does not correspond to the statement of Anu Prattipati, the charge d'affaires at the American Embassy.
Prattipati, on Thursday, after a meeting with the acting Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, stated that he had expressed to him the concern of the United States of America (US) regarding any attempt to limit the participation of Serbian parties in the October local elections.
But, in her statement to the media after this meeting, Prattipati did not specifically mention that she told Kurti "Do not make the mistake of excluding the Serbian List from the elections", as claimed in the headlines of the aforementioned media outlets, and in no case did she specifically mention the political entity "Serbian List".
Prattipat's statement, translated into Albanian:
“Today I also raised our concerns with the acting Prime Minister about the actions we understand the acting Prime Minister and the Vetevendosje Movement are considering to exclude some political parties from participating in the upcoming local elections. To be clear, we believe that all citizens of Kosovo should have the full opportunity to elect their elected representatives. It is of utmost importance that Kosovo Serbs be included in this process, and we are concerned about any efforts to limit their choices. Today I have made these points known to the Prime Minister and have highlighted the US’s attention to this issue.” (see here (video published on KTV – Koha Vision)
A little context:
The Kosovo Central Election Commission (CEC) has not certified the Serbian List, the largest party of Kosovo Serbs, for the October 12 local elections.
The recommendation to certify the Serbian List received only 2 votes in favor, 2 against and 7 abstentions during a CEC meeting on Thursday (August 21). (see here REL article)
Analyze:
On August 21st, several online portals published an article titled "Senior US official issues firm 'order' to Kurti: Don't make the mistake of excluding Serbian List from the elections".
After verification by hibrid.info, it was found that the title is incorrect and does not match the real statement of Anu Prattipati, the chargé d'affaires at the American Embassy in Kosovo.
In her public appearance after the meeting with the acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Prattipati never mentioned the Serbian List nor did she use the phrase "Don't make a mistake", as claimed in the headlines of the aforementioned portals.
She said that the US is concerned about any efforts that could limit the participation of political parties in local elections, emphasizing the importance of involving the Serbian community in the electoral process.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this article as "Clickbait" and "Disinformation".
Reasoning:
“Clickbait” is considered to be informational content whose title is general and does not disclose the location of the event, context and relevance. Such texts and articles aim to attract the attention of the audience with sensational headlines with misleading consequences, which do not accurately clarify the content of the article. “Clickbait” headlines are mainly made to attract readability in the case of media publications and/or to earn from clicks in the case of commercial publications.
"Disinformation" is defined as information content that contains a "mix" of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful attributes, and that is created and/or distributed with the deliberate intention of causing harm. The motive behind the producers/distributors of disinformation content lies in achieving a political, financial, psychological or social goal.