Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
On Sunday (October 26), the page “Kosovo Field News"(archived) published a 26-second video on Facebook, claiming that the candidate for mayor of Fushë Kosovë from the ranks of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Besnik Osmani, does not represent the LDK, as the same was elected auditor general by Xhavit Haliti, who comes from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).
The truth?
After fact-checking conducted by hibrid.info, it was determined that the claim is false.
After conducting online research, hibrid.info found that on March 3, 2016, the former President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, had proposed to the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, Besnik Osmani, as a candidate for Auditor General of the Republic of Kosovo. (see here)
Hibrid.info has also found the authentic video material published by the medium "Kallxo.com" dated March 30, 2016. In this content, Xhavit Haliti (then Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo), explained that the Assembly elected Besnik Osmani as Auditor General with 76 votes in favor, 3 against and 1 abstention.
Also, hibrid.info found articles published on March 30, 2016 in several online media in Kosovo, which reported the election of Osman as Auditor General of the Republic of Kosovo. (see here and here)
Analyze:
The website "Fushë Kosova Lajm" published a video claiming that the LDK candidate for mayor of Fushë Kosova, Besnik Osmani, does not represent this party, with the justification that he was elected Auditor General by Xhavit Haliti of PDK.
After verifying the facts, it was confirmed that former President Atifete Jahjaga was the one who proposed Besnik Osmani for the position of Auditor General on March 3, 2016. Then, on March 30, 2016, The Kosovo Assembly elected him with 76 votes in favor, 3 against and 1 abstention, as confirmed by the authentic video published by "Kallxo.com".
Several news portals in Kosovo also reported on this decision on the same date, confirming that the process of Osman's election is not related to any decision by Xhavit Haliti or the Democratic Party of Kosovo.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses the content published by the "Fushë Kosova Lajm" page as "Manipulation of facts" and "Disinformation".
Reasoning:
“Factual manipulation” is a rating given to informational content that uses facts known to be accurate but interprets them in a distorted manner. These reports typically use accurate information to draw incorrect conclusions or claims, thereby misleading consumers of media content about the actual meaning of the facts presented.
"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.