Last week was characterized by the dominance of clickbait articles in the misinformation ecosystem.
Clickbait articles were published on news portals and social media regarding the claim that the mandate of the EU envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, has ended; about weather forecasts; accidents and deaths, events that had nothing to do with Kosovo and were not reported in the headlines of the articles.
Unverified content has taken hold on social media, specifically on several Facebook pages, where photographs of children in Gaza have been published that have turned out to have been generated with artificial intelligence.
An old article regarding the ban on the entry of Serbian goods into Kosovo by the Kosovo Government has been deemed clickbait/disinformation.
Disinformation has been published on information portals and dubious ones in Albanian and Serbian language media. On dubious portals, disinformation was spread about the compensation of members of the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF), about the salary difference; on information portals, disinformation was spread with the claim that Kosovo is ranked in the best position in the Balkans, in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for the year 2023; while on Serbian language media, disinformation was published that the British are sending Kosovo Albanians to war in Ukraine.
An article titled "NATO leaves Kosovo/Here's what the former American envoy demanded" was considered misinformation/clickbait.
News portals incorrectly reported the number of years in prison for the four people accused of terrorism.
Conspiracy theories from Albanian-language news portals claiming that war is inevitable; and from Serbian-language media, that looting in Serb-majority settlements is being carried out to make any kind of normal life impossible for Serbs.
Unverified content
Several Facebook pages have published an image showing two children sleeping in the mud inside a tent. The image is captioned “Good night from Gaza.” After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that this image is not real and was created using artificial intelligence. (here)
Several Facebook pages have published an image showing two children sleeping in the mud inside a tent. The image is accompanied by the caption “Sleep tight, they are not your children, they are the children of Gaza!”. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that this image is not real and was created using artificial intelligence (AI). (here)
Clickbait
An information portal with content in the Albanian language has published an article titled “Serious/ A newborn baby is found dead in the toilet of a bar, it is suspected that…”. After verifying the facts carried out by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the title of the article is general, that it does not clarify in which country the event took place and that the photo published by this portal is not related to the case that occurred. The news is clarified only at the end of the article, where it is stated that “DCI James Entwistle, from West Yorkshire Police, urgently called on the mother to contact them or seek medical help”. (here)
The Albanian-language Facebook page “Live News” has published an article titled “Rain, hail and storm, here’s what the weather will be like today and tomorrow in…” After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the article is about the weather forecast in Albania and that it is old. So, the aforementioned page has published an article about the weather forecast for November 3, which it has presented as current. (here)
The information portal "ntv.al" has published an article on the social media Facebook with the title of which it is claimed that the mandate of the European Union (EU) special envoy for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, has ended. Hibrid.info, after research and verification of the facts, has confirmed that this claim is not true. The news is clarified only in the content of the article, which states "The Slovak diplomat's mandate is expected to end before June, and it is not known whether there will be a further extension of his responsibility, as the EU also faces an electoral process". (here)
An information portal with content in the Albanian language has published an article titled “Terrible accident/ Bus full of passengers collides 'head-on' with truck, injuries reported”. After verifying the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that the title of this article is general, as it does not clarify in which country the event occurred. The news is clarified only in the content, more precisely in the heading of the article, which states “A serious incident has occurred in Turkey, where as a result of a collision of a passenger bus with a truck, 19 people have been injured”. (here)
A Facebook social media page has published a photo with the caption “German boyfriend beats Kosovar in Pristina / Read the full story in the comment”, attaching a link to click on what it says is “the full story”. After clicking on the link provided in the comment, an old article published on July 19, 2023 opens. (here)
Clickbait / Disinformation
A Facebook social media page has published a photo with the caption "Government in place, Serbian goods are not allowed to enter Kosovo, nor transit", attaching a link to click on what it says is the "full news". After clicking on the link provided in the comment, an old article published on July 17, 2023 opens. After verification and research conducted by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the claim given is old and unfounded. (here)
disinformation
The dubious portal named “Skenderaj Press” has published an article, which claims that compensation for members of the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) has begun for the difference in salary, based on the regulation for increasing the salaries of KSF members, according to their ranks. The portal in question makes this claim through the title, while the content indicates that KSF members are requesting compensation for these salaries. Hibrid.info has verified and confirmed that there is a court decision in favor of KSF members, but their compensation has not begun. (here)
The Serbian-language media outlet “happytv.rs” has published an article claiming that the British are sending Kosovo Albanians to fight in Ukraine. The claim refers to a post on the X social network (formerly Twitter) of the British Embassy in Kosovo account, which announced the participation of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) in the training called INTERFLEX. After checking the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) will be part of the training, but members of this institution will not be sent to fight for Ukraine. (here)
The portal “Lecanton27.ch”, which calls itself “the first Swiss newspaper in the Albanian language”, published a post on its official Facebook page on January 31, claiming that Kosovo is ranked in the best position in the Balkans, in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2023 published by Transparency International. After a fact-check conducted by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that this claim is not correct, since in this ranking, as far as the Balkan countries are concerned, Croatia occupies the best position. (here)
Misinformation / Clickbait
The information portal named “ntv.al” has published an article titled “NATO is leaving Kosovo/ Here’s what the former American envoy demanded”. While in the content, the portal has reported on a statement by the former American envoy for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Richard Grenell. After verifying the facts by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the part of the information in the title, which indicates that NATO has left Kosovo, is not true and also does not reflect the content of this article. (here)
error
The information portal "Paparaci.com" has published an article titled "Over 35 years of imprisonment for four accused of terrorism". The same claim was also mentioned in the content of this article. But after verification, it was confirmed that the claim regarding the sentence of the four defendants was presented incorrectly, as in fact hibrid.info has confirmed that they were sentenced to 30 and a half years in prison. (here)
Conspiracy theory
The information portal "Botasot.info" published on January 27 an article titled "'War is inevitable', Austrian expert gives dire prediction: Kosovo and this country should get ready - these are the plans of Serbian extremists!". The content of this article includes a statement by Austrian Gunther Fehlinger, whom the aforementioned portal refers to as a "security expert". After research through online search engines, conducted by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that Fehlinger is not a security expert, as claimed in the Botasot.info article, but rather an economist. (here)
The Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia has published a statement on February 3 regarding the alleged robbery of the Serbian Post Office in the village of Uglare near Fushë Kosovë. Regarding the robbery, this institution stated that the action was carried out as a “direct consequence of Kurti’s decision to abolish the dinar in Kosovo” and “to make any kind of normal life for Serbs impossible”. After verification of the facts carried out by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that in this statement, this office does not provide facts that support the claim regarding the purpose and perpetrators of this act. (here)