Clickbait articles have dominated the misinformation ecosystem in Kosovo last week.
Clickbait articles were mainly related to various developments that did not disclose the location of the event in the title, leaving room for it to be understood that the events took place in Kosovo. There were also clickbait articles about announcements about work visas in Germany and working conditions in Greece.
The fraudulent articles involved posting photos of women claiming to be looking for a romantic relationship, as well as posts about the false offering of online loans.
Unverified content that claims the difficult situation of a person for whom financial support for recovery is requested.
Disinformation claiming that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has confirmed that he will expel Serbs from Kosovo by force.
Error regarding the number of goals scored by Vedat Muriqi for the Spanish football club Mallorca.
Clickbait
The information portal “Kosova-sot.info” has published an article titled “Man kills his neighbors after conflict”. The title of the article published by “Kosova-sot.info” does not clarify in which country this event occurred, while the news is clarified only in the content where it is stated that the case in question occurred in Texas. In addition to the general title, the article also contains inadequate photographs, as it shows police tape with the Albanian text “CRIME SCENE DO NOT PASS”, which suggests that the event occurred in an Albanian-speaking country. (here)
The information portal “Kosova-sot.info” has published an article titled “Citizens clash with police, several people are arrested”. The title does not clarify in which country the event took place. This online medium is a portal that operates in Kosovo and based on the followers of the Facebook page, the largest number of readers are from Kosovo. Therefore, not providing information about the location of the event can very easily misinform readers, making them think that the arrest of citizens took place in Kosovo. (here)
Three Facebook social media pages with content in the Albanian language, “Muzike shqiptare”, “Gazeta unike.al” and “Lajme.al 1” have published an article titled regarding an old announcement for work visas from the German Embassy. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that this announcement from the German Embassy is old, published in September 2021. So, the suspicious Facebook pages have tried to present this old news as current. (here)
The dubious portal “sot-news.com” has published an article claiming that the content includes the opportunity to vote for the winner of the television show “Big Brother Vip Albania”. The content does not offer any opportunity for the public to vote for the winning resident of this show. (here)
The information portal “Kosova-sot.info” has published an article about an accident in Greece, but the title does not clarify in which country the event occurred. The location of the event is clarified only in the content, more precisely in the headline of the news. Failure to provide information about the location of the event in the title, by this portal, could very easily result in misinforming readers, making them think that the collision of students in this accident occurred in Kosovo. (here)
Several Facebook pages have published an article titled “Good news for Albanians! Greece makes new decision for seasonal workers”. After research conducted through online search engines, hibrid.info has managed to confirm that the article in question is old, published in September 2020. The pages “Gazeta unike.al” and “Lajme.al 1” have tried to present this old news as current. (here)
Lies
The Facebook pages “Gazeta Globale” and “Lajmi Fundit” have published fabricated articles with photographs of a foreign woman, who has presented herself as an Albanian from Shkodra, who is looking for a love relationship. These fabricated articles were then distributed on Facebook by the “Gazeta Globale” page. Hibrid.info, after verification, has confirmed that this photograph does not belong to the Albanian woman, but to a foreign personality, who was found on the social network Instagram under the name “Kristy Lani”. (here)
The TikTok account named “Njerze & Fate (Agjensi-Njohje)” which has over 19 thousand followers, publishes photos of women claiming that they are looking for a love relationship. In all these posts, the aforementioned account, in the captions of these images of the women, claims that they are from Kosovo or Albania. Hibrid.info has verified two of these images and has confirmed that those photos belong to women from Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina. (here)
The page “Personal Loan” with over 3 followers falsely claims to offer online loans of up to 20 euros for home furnishings. The campaign published by this page belongs to the CREDINS Bank in Kosovo, which it has attempted to impersonate, removing its authentic logo, and changing the loan amount and annual interest rate. (here)
Unverified content
The information portal “GazetaDemos.com” has published an announcement claiming the difficult situation of a person for whom financial support for treatment is requested. Based on the fact-check conducted by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that “GazetaDemos.com” has published an announcement with unverified data. The announcement published on Facebook by the “Ardit Gashi” account lacks additional data regarding the illness he is allegedly suffering from. It is also not clear whether his condition was aggravated only by the accident or by some other illness. The claim that he is suffering from an illness is also not substantiated as no additional data is provided that specifies the type of illness. It has also been confirmed that the photograph was most likely not taken in Kosovo, based on the similarities of the image found on the internet, which was taken in the premises of a hospital in Florida. (here)
disinformation
The Serbian-language media outlet “Informer.rs” has published an article claiming that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has confirmed that he will expel Serbs from Kosovo by force. This claim was raised in connection with the decision to dismiss the management team that was responsible for the creation and drafting of the draft statute of the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities. The facts provided show that Prime Minister Kurti has a plan to regulate the rights and provisions of the Serbian community in Kosovo. Despite the rejection of the draft statute prepared by the management team, Kurti offered his draft vision, emphasizing the fact that Serbs should live in the state of Kosovo with their rights and obligations. Therefore, the claims that Kurti has confirmed that he will expel Serbs from Kosovo by force and that he is not interested in forming the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities are unfounded. (here)
error
The portal “GazetaBlic.com” on the official Facebook page dedicated to sports “GazetaBlic Sport”, has published a post claiming that Mallorca's Kosovar striker, Vedat Muriqi, has reached the quota of 12 goals with the Spanish team during this season. However, after verification of the facts carried out by hibrid.info, it has been proven that this claim is incorrect, since Muriqi has already managed to score a total of 13 goals for Mallorca. (here)