Disinformation content has dominated the misinformation ecosystem in the past week.
The disinformation related to claims about Prime Minister Albin Kurti's million-dollar house, a staged video purporting to show Kurti with Vojislav Kostunica, the former Serbian Prime Minister. Disinformation claiming that Avdullah Hoti said that the country was flourishing when he was the Prime Minister of Kosovo. Disinformation content falsely claiming that singer Naim Abazi spoke out against the call to prayer. Disinformation from Serbian-language media claiming that Albin Kurti is continuing to terrorize Serbs in Kosovo where the Kosovo Police regulates the traffic with long weapons.
False content published on Facebook claiming that the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) will be supplied with six "Aselsan 35mm" anti-aircraft military equipment, and that the Kosovo government has signed a 60 million euro agreement with the Turkish government for the supply of six "Hisar A+" anti-aircraft military equipment.
Deceptive content on Facebook regarding a request for help in the operation of a child due to suffering from an illness. Scam with a shared photo from an episode of the series "The Simpsons" from which it is claimed that the new Twitter logo was taken.
Clickbait content about the claim that the US has warned about criminal gangs in the Balkans and that this constitutes scary news for Kosovar politicians linked to crime.
Unverified content regarding the inscription on the plaque of the Special Unit Center in Mitrovica in the act of its renaming from "Belvedere" in the name of the murdered police officer "Enver Zymeri".
disinformation
A suspicious portal named “viraln32.com” has published an article titled “Get out of here / Here is the new million-dollar house of Prime Minister Albin Kurti”. The article is also accompanied by a photograph that claims to be Prime Minister Kurti’s house. However, hibrid.info has confirmed that the content of the article contains data from Kurti’s 2020 asset declaration, and that the data showing the alleged million-dollar value of the new house also claimed in the title of the article, for Prime Minister Kurti, is missing. (here)
The TikTok account named “SHALA'DRENICA??????????????????????????????” has published a video material with the image showing Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo, together with Vojislav Kostunica, former Serbian Prime Minister. In the caption of the photo, based on the image shown, it is claimed that Prime Minister Kurti is a Serbian agent. However, after research conducted through online search engines, hibrid.info has managed to find the original image, confirming that the photo shown in the video material is edited. (here)
The information portal “Kosova-sot.info” has published a post on its official Facebook page, claiming that the deputy of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Avdullah Hoti, has stated that the country flourished when he was the Prime Minister of Kosovo. After verification of the facts carried out by hibrid.info, for this post, the aforementioned portal referred to a post by Hoti on his Facebook account, which had criticized the current Government. However, in this post of his, apart from criticizing the Government, he did not state that the country flourished when he was the Prime Minister. (here)
The information portal “Kosova-sot.info” on its official Facebook page has published a post (July 25), titled “Isa Mustafa: Do you see that Albin Kurti is tensing the situation in the north, with me it would be different?”. The same title was also put as a caption on the photo accompanying the post in question. After the verification of the facts carried out by hibrid.info, for this post, it was understood that the portal in question was based on an interview of Mustafa, given to the news agency “KosovaPress”. However, in none of the statements of former Prime Minister Mustafa was a similar statement found, either directly or implicitly. (here)
The information portal "Kosova-sot.info" on its official Facebook page published a post dated July 26 titled "An elderly man from Kosovo dies suddenly in a motel". After verifying the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that this event occurred in March of this year, which the aforementioned portal has tried to present as current. (here)
The dubious portal with content in the Albanian language “viraln32.com” has published an article with the false claim that singer Naim Abazi has spoken out against the call to prayer. After verifying the facts, the content of this article presents a completely different statement than what is claimed through the title. So, Abazi has not made any statement regarding this issue. Hibrid.info has assessed that such news does not have the potential to create any high social impact, however, the reason for its treatment is due to the high level of interaction on the social media Facebook for this post. (here)
The Serbian language media outlet “srbijadanas.rs” has published an article today with the claim in the title that Albin Kurti is continuing to terrorize Serbs in Kosovo where the Kosovo Police regulates traffic with long guns. This claim is based on an informative post on Facebook by the information portal “Jepi zje” where it was announced that during the regulation of traffic at the iron bridge located near the tunnel in Mitrovica, one of the police officers came out with a long gun. After verifying the facts by hibrid.info, it was found that this is not about mistreatment of the Serbian community, as claimed. (here)
The TikTok account named “kiyameti2024” published a short video (13 seconds) on July 28, in which several members dressed in military uniforms are seen shooting with weapons. The aforementioned account falsely claims that the video depicts members of the Kosovo Police Special Unit. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it was noted that the United States of America (USA) flag is clearly visible on the helmet of one of them. (here)
Fake news
Several Facebook pages have published a post claiming that the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) will be supplied with six additional “Aselsan 35mm” anti-aircraft military equipment. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, no information published in credible media and official websites related to the supply of these military equipment to the KSF has been found. (here)
The Facebook page “Diaspora me Albinin” has published a post claiming that the Kosovo government has signed a 60 million euro agreement with the Turkish government for the supply of six “Hisar A+” anti-aircraft military equipment. After research conducted through online search engines, hibrid.info has not found any information published in credible media and official websites in both Albanian and Turkish, related to the supply of the KSF with this military equipment. (here)
Lies
An account with the name “Rena Capo” has posted an article on its Facebook page, claiming that the author of the publication is the mother of a sick 5-month-old baby who needs surgery. In the same article, which was also published in the public Facebook group named “DIASPORA KOMBTËTARE E SHQIPTARISA”, the post, accompanied by a photo of the baby, requests financial assistance to carry out the surgery. Based on the suspicion that the post does not show a bank account for financial assistance, nor other information, hibrid.info has researched and managed to find the real identity of the babies shown in two of the published photos, which purport to show the baby in question. (here)
A photo taken from an episode of the series “The Simpsons” from which it is claimed that the new Twitter logo was taken, has been circulating on social networks. This photo shows a mobile phone and the new “X” logo of the social media Twitter. However, after verification, it has been confirmed that the photo is manipulated. The verification of this photo was done by the fact-checkers from Spain “Maldita.es”. (here)
Clickbait
The information portal “Kosova-sot.info” has published an article titled “America warns of serious attacks on criminal gangs in the Balkan Peninsula, scary news for Kosovar politicians linked to crime”. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the title does not correspond to the content. The content states that the article is based on an opinion by analyst Reshat Badallaj. Therefore, the title does not clarify who made this statement, implying that it is an official warning from the United States of America (USA). (here)
Unverified content
The claims that the inscription on the plaque of the Special Unit Center in Mitrovica in the act of its renaming from “Belvedere” in the name of the murdered police officer “Enver Zymeri” was made by mistake, do not stand. The articles claim that the mistake or as they refer to it (the omission) was made in the surname of the deceased, claiming that it was Zymeri and not Zymberi. However, from the facts checked and verified, it results that in fact the surname of the police officer was Zymeri as confirmed by the relatives of the deceased and not Zymberi as claimed by the media covered. (here)