Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj
Over the last week (September 15–21, 2025), monitoring shows that the information space in the media and social networks has been dominated by fake news.
Fake news this week has been distributed mainly on Facebook and TikTok, dealing with political and electoral topics. On Facebook, the “Shqip Zone” page published on September 15 a photo of two people in Serbian police uniforms, claiming that one of them was the father of Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani – a claim that turned out to be false, as the person in question was Milan Martić, a former Serbian politician convicted of war crimes. On TikTok, on September 17, the “deqanisot” account shared a photo that appeared to be a poll on support for candidates in the local elections in Deçan, which turned out to be unfounded. Also, on September 7, the “llapiktu” account published on TikTok photos taken from projects of the Podujeva Municipality, claiming that they were works on the house of Mayor Shpejtim Bulliqi – which after verification was proven to be false.
Clickbait headlines have appeared on online portals, creating misunderstandings among the public. On September 14, the portal “mediafokus.info” published an article titled “LDK wins Gjilan in the runoff”, which in fact presents a political opinion, but does not clarify this in the title, giving the reader the impression of verified news. Meanwhile, on September 15, another article titled “IKSHPK urges not to use drinking water”, was published, where the title turns out to be incorrect, because it does not clarify that the IKSHPK warning referred only to the Badoc area and not all of Kosovo, causing confusion among the public.
Another case is related to unverified content. On September 14, journalist Vudi Xhymshiti published on his Facebook account the claim that the decision to indefinitely suspend the Strategic Dialogue between the US and Kosovo, announced by the US Embassy in Pristina, was not binding as it had not been confirmed by the State Department or the White House. However, Hibrid.info's verification showed that the lack of publication by these institutions does not make the decision unofficial or without authority.
The content published by the portal "Ntv.al" on Facebook, where the portrait of the KFOR commander, Lieutenant General Enrico Barduani, was shared, with the alarming caption: "Ceace is an illusion. The commander of the NATO force warns about Kosovo: one step away from fatal escalation, on the verge of unrest", was assessed as clickbait/disinformation. However, after opening the linked article, it turns out that Barduani had not used such expressions, which indicates a manipulative title and caption, with elements of both clickbait and disinformation.
A manipulative content was published on TikTok by the account “reflektori_” on September 17, claiming that the LDK candidate for mayor of Podujeva, Ekrem Hyseni, had helped a fainted woman on the street. After verification through “Google Reverse Image Search”, Hibrid.info found that the photo used is not new, but belongs to a report from four years ago in several Albanian-language media.
Clickbait
An article titled “LDK wins Gjilan in the runoff” is published. This content with this title was published on Sunday (September 14) by an online portal called “mediafokus.info”. Hibrid.info found that the claim about the LDK’s victory in Gjilan represents an opinion, which is not made clear in the title. (here)
An article titled was published "IKSHPK requests that the water not be used for drinking", but the title is incorrect. Although the IKSHPK had announced this problem on September 15, the title of the portal creates a misunderstanding, as it does not specify that the warning applies only to Badoc and not to all of Kosovo, since this institute prepares and implements the public health strategy for all of Kosovo. (here)
Unverified content
It is alleged that the decision to indefinitely suspend the planned Strategic Dialogue between the US and Kosovo, published by the US Embassy in Pristina, is not binding as it has not been confirmed by the State Department and the White House. This claim was made in a publication (Sunday, September 14) by journalist Vudi Xhymshiti, on his Facebook account, where he made a statement to a television station. Hibrid.info found that the failure to publish this decision by these institutions mentioned by Xhymshiti does not make the decision unofficial or without authority. (here)
Clickbait/Disinformation
The Albanian-language news portal “Ntv.al” has published a post on its official Facebook page, which features the portrait of the commander of the NATO Force in Kosovo (KFOR), Lieutenant General Enrico Barduani. This image is captioned “CELESTIALITY IS AN ILLUSION. THE NATO FORCE COMMANDER ALARMS FOR KOSOVO: ONE STEP AWAY FROM FATAL ESCALATION, ON THE THRESHOLD OF RUINS”. After clicking on the link to the article posted in the post, the content shows that Barduani did not mention the phrases “one step away from fatal escalation” or “on the verge of unrest” in his statement. (here)
Fake news
A photo has been posted on Facebook showing two people wearing Serbian police uniforms, with a caption claiming that one of them is the father of Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani. The content was posted on Monday (September 15) by a page called “Shqip Zone”. Hibrid.info has found that the claim is not accurate and that the person in the photo is actually Milan Martić, a former Serbian politician and convicted war crimes convict. (here)
A photo has been published claiming to be a poll on support for mayoral candidates in Deçan, ahead of the local elections on October 12. This content was published on Wednesday (September 17) on TikTok by an account named “deqanisot”. Hibrid.info has found that this poll is baseless. (here)
A TikTok post claimed to show the mayor of Podujeva, Shpejtim Bulliqi, overseeing construction work at his house in Bardhosh. “Shpejtim Bulliqi overseeing construction work at his house in Bardhosh. Project worth 2.2 million euros. You inherited it with the mayor’s family,” is the caption that the “llapiktu” account attached to the September 7 post. After checking on Google, Hibrid.info found that the photos used were taken from previous posts by Bulliqi and the Podujeva Municipality, about projects in this municipality. So they are not “at Bulliqi’s house” as claimed in the TikTok post. (here)
Manipulation of facts
A TikTok post claims that the Democratic League of Kosovo candidate for mayor of Podujeva, Ekrem Hyseni, recently helped a woman who was unconscious on the street. The claim was published by the account “reflektori_” on September 17 (Wednesday). Hibrid.info used the “Google” search engine with the published photo and found that it was a report from four years ago in some Albanian-language media. So the photo is old. (here)
disinformation
A 41-second video posted on TikTok on September 18, featuring Adem Demaçi, was accompanied by the caption that he had said: “VV is not for power, there are suspicious people”. After verification, it turned out that this claim is not accurate. Demaçi’s original interview, given to “Radio Kosova e Lirë” in 2015, shows that he had expressed doubts that Vetëvendosje could come and exercise power, citing as an obstacle a part of the people who, according to him, had not participated in the war and who could become servants of anyone just for power. Therefore, the caption of the TikTok video distorts his statement. (here)
A photo has been published showing the mayor of Podujeva, Shpejtim Bulliqi, the former municipal director in Podujeva, Hamdi Jaha, and businessman Ditar Hoti, with the caption claiming that Bulliqi met with Jaha and declared that, in the event of victory in the elections, Jaha would be the deputy mayor of the municipality. The content with this claim was published on September 5 on TikTok, by an account named “llapiktu”. Hibrid.info has not found any public statement on this issue from Bulliqi, who is also running for mayor in the October 12 local elections as part of the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV). (here)