Clickbait articles and disinformation have been the two main categories that have dominated the misinformation ecosystem in Kosovo regarding local and international events over the past week.
The disinformation was mainly published on social media (Facebook), including photos and videos related to the Israel-Hamas conflict, as well as disinformation content claiming that Switzerland is seeking workers in these sectors, as well as an unspoken statement by Joe Biden, published on dubious portals.
The clickbait articles published mainly in real media were about tragic cases and various disasters, such as loss of life, school shootings, and incidents, but the location of the events was not disclosed. In addition to these contents, clickbait articles were published in the media claiming that Israeli footballers face an attack on the way to Pristina, and that footballer Ardon Jashari refuses to play for Switzerland.
The unverified content was artificial intelligence-generated photographs purporting to depict the state of the Israel-Hamas conflict, which were published on social media.
A fake news story was published on the social network TikTok claiming that Thaçi had suffered an "attack on the head."
disinformation
A Facebook account has published a video showing footage of several rockets. The video claims that the images of rocket attacks by Iron Dome and the Izzuddin Qassam Brigades are current. After verifying the facts, it was found that the video is not from the recent Israel-Hamas conflict, but was filmed in 2021. (here)
The Albanian-language information portal “Bota-islame.com” has published an image of a protest on its Facebook page. The image shows a protest in support of Palestine, which the publisher claims took place in the German capital, Berlin. However, after fact-checking by hibrid.info, it was found that the image actually shows footage of a protest held in Islamabad, Pakistan. (here)
The Facebook page “Islamic Messages” has published an image claiming to have been taken in Gaza. The photo shows a woman in a school classroom, with bouquets of flowers placed on the tables. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the image was taken in 2021 in Afghanistan. (here)
A Facebook account has published a photo showing several military forces on the street. This photo was claimed to show images from an attack on an Israeli battalion. After fact-checking by Hibrid.info, it was verified that the image is from 2013 and shows Israeli soldiers in a training exercise near the border with Syria in September of that year. Hibrid.info has also researched the content of the text from this post, but has not found any data related to the event. (here)
A Facebook account called “Al-Aqsa Mosque” has published a video purporting to show the bodies of Palestinians killed in Gaza left on the streets due to overcrowded hospitals there. However, after fact-checking by hibrid.info, it was found that the footage was taken from a protest in Washington, where white sacks were displayed to represent the bodies of people killed in Gaza by Israel. (here)
A Facebook page has shared an article titled “The strong one sends “greetings” to the EU for Kosovo” taken from the dubious portal “gazetafikse.info”, published on November 8. This article also includes a photo of US President Joe Biden. After fact-checking, hibrid.info has confirmed that the article is old and the title is fabricated, which does not correspond to the content. The content talks about the policies of the United States of America (US) and the European Union (EU), but there is no part that clarifies the title that US President Joe Biden has declared something like this to the EU for Kosovo. (here)
The dubious portal with content in the Albanian language “gazetafikse.info” published on November 7 an article titled “Good news for Albanians, Switzerland is looking for workers in these sectors”. After fact-checking by hibrid.info and after research conducted through online search engines, it has been confirmed that the title of the article is fabricated and does not match its content. While the same news was also found published in January 2022. (here)
Clickbait
The information portal “Kosova-sot.info” has published an article titled “A 24-year-old woman dies in the bathroom of the apartment where she lived”. Hibrid.info has verified the facts and has confirmed that the title of this article is generalizing because it does not clarify where the event took place. The news is clarified only in the content of the article, which states “A 24-year-old woman has tragically died in Thessaloniki”. (here)
The information portal “Kosova-sot.info” has published an article titled “Three arrested after an incident”. Hibrid.info has verified the facts and has confirmed that the title of this article is generalizing as it does not clarify in which country the incident took place. The news is clarified only in the content of the article, which states “Three people have been arrested after a fight at the Tehran metro station that occurred due to the law on the mandatory wearing of the hijab in Iran”. (here)
The information portal “Dritare.net” has published an article entitled “Earthquakes in the South of Albania”. After verification of the facts carried out by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the epicenter of the earthquake was not in the south of Albania, but one was registered in the coastal city of Greece, Igoumenitsa, and that the tremors were also felt in the south of the Albanian state. The news is clarified only in the content of the article, which states “Strong earthquake tremors were registered a few moments ago in Igoumenitsa, Greece. It is reported that the earthquake tremors were felt as far as Gjirokastër, Saranda and other surrounding areas”. (here)
The information portal “Kosova-sot.info” has published an article titled “Tragedy: Worker gets trapped in quarry machinery and loses his life”. Hibrid.info has verified the facts and has confirmed that the title of this article is general as it does not clarify where the event occurred. The news is clarified only in the content of the article, which states "A worker tragically lost his life in a quarry in Lamia on Tuesday morning." (here)
The information portal “Kosova-sot.info” has published an article titled “Shooting in a school, one injured reported”. After verifying the facts presented in the content, hibrid.info has confirmed that the title of the article is general, meaning it does not clarify in which country this event occurred. The news becomes clear only in the content, which states that “a student at a school in the German city of Offenberg has injured a classmate with a firearm”. (here)
Several news portals published an article on November 10 titled “Israeli Footballers Face Attack on Road to Pristina”. Based on the comments posted by readers on Facebook where the article was shared, hibrid.info assesses that the title of the article leaves room for interpretations that the event took place in our country. (here)
The information portal "Indeksonline.net" with content in Albanian has published an article titled "Ardon Jashari refuses to play for Switzerland. Hibrid.info has verified that the content of the article explains that the footballer of Albanian origin has refused to join the under-21 age group category of the Swiss national football team. Based on these findings, hibrid.info assesses that the title of this article does not match its content. (here)
Unverified content
Several Facebook pages and accounts that have posts with content in the Albanian language have published a photo on October 8 showing several children on the ruins of buildings. This photo is claimed to depict the optimism of children in Gaza during the current Israel-Hamas conflict. After analyzing the photo, details are observed that do not match a real image and it shows signs of Artificial Intelligence. (here)
A Facebook account that publishes content in the Albanian language posted an image on November 4 showing parts of a person's body under the rubble of a building. The image purports to depict the reality of Gaza. After analyzing the image, it was found that it contained details that did not match the real image and that it showed signs of Artificial Intelligence. (here)
A Facebook page that publishes content in the Albanian language posted an image on November 8 showing a child on the ruins of buildings. After verifying the photo, details were noticed that did not match a real image and it showed signs of Artificial Intelligence. (here)
Fake news
The TikTok account “babajaga454” has published a video with the image of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi. The image is accompanied by a caption claiming that Thaçi has suffered an “attack on the head” according to the newspaper “The Times”. However, after fact-checking by hibrid.info, no evidence was found to prove the claim published by the account in question. (here)