Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
On Sunday, October 12, two fake posts were published on the social network Facebook, which claim to present the results of Exit Polls for the mayoral race of Suhareka and Lipjan.
One of the posts, published around 17:25 by the page "Current Suhareka", contains a graphic that purports to show the results of an Exit Poll, where the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) candidate, Ardian Shala, appears in the lead.
After verifying the facts, Hibrid.info has concluded that this Exit Poll is not credible, as there is a lack of information on the institution that conducted it, the methodology used, and the time of the measurement.
Search through Google with the keywords "Exit Poll Suhareka"has not yielded any results from any credible media or research institution supporting this claim.
A similar case was also observed in a post on the page "Neighborhood Watchers – Lipjan", which allegedly presents the results of an Exit Poll for 16:00, according to which LDK is leading with 38.1% of the votes. The content mentions the company "UBO Consulting" as the source of the data.
However, Hibrid.info, after verification, has found that this information has not been published in any other source, except on the above Facebook page. (see here)
On the official UBO Consulting Facebook page, an official announcement was found explaining that this company will publish the Exit Poll results for 12 municipalities only after 19:00, on RTV Dukagjini. (see here)
Analysis:
Both cases are examples of the spread of electoral disinformation, through false claims about Exit Polls, which seem to aim to influence public perception on election day. The lack of credible sources and the use of well-known company names without real evidence are clear indicators of information manipulation.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Fake News".
rationale
The “Fake News” rating is given to informational content that is entirely fabricated or that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be defined as having been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.