and on social media claiming that China bans the carbonated drink "Coca-Cola" for consumption and classifies it as a cleaning material.
Unverified content has been published on the Telegram social media platform claiming that on January 21, at the border crossing in Jarinje, a gun was fired at a person employed by the Serbian Ministry of Interior.
Deceptive content has been published on social media, with the publication of images showing a soldier with the Kosovo flag and another logo on his left arm; as well as deceptive publications claiming to provide credit from a suspicious page.
The media incorrectly reported that Kosovo and Albania rank as the last countries in Europe in terms of income, in terms of purchasing power.
Conspiracy theory from the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia that the looting of two houses of Serbian families in the village of Bërnica e Poshtme, near Pristina, was carried out with the "purpose of expelling Serbs from their settlements".
Fake news on social media with several images of the historic monument of the Eiffel Tower in Paris allegedly caught fire and is burning, as well as Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
disinformation
The page “AtdheuLajm” published on January 21 on Facebook, an article titled “Good news for Albanians, Switzerland is looking for workers in these sectors”. The page “AtdheuLajm” published yesterday on January 21 on Facebook, an article titled “Good news for Albanians, Switzerland is looking for workers in these sectors”. (here)
A Facebook account has posted a post with the caption “CHINA BANS COCA-COLA FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION AND CLASSIFIES IT AS A CLEANING MATERIAL”. The posted content also continues the claim that China has banned the carbonated drink “Coca-Cola”, adding that “In China, Coca-Cola will be sold as a drain cleaner, and the non-alcoholic drink Coca-Cola produced by the American company Coca-Cola Company according to the decision of the Central Committee of China for Economic Development”. After verification of the facts carried out by hibrid.info, it has been proven that this claim is not correct. (here)
The Albanian-language news outlet "EuroNews" has published an article on its portal claiming that Albanian fans have failed to secure tickets for the European football championship, Euro 2024. The same is claimed in both the title and the content of the article. After verification by hibrid.info, it was understood that the claim is generalized and that concrete data supporting it is missing. (here)
Unverified content
On the social media "Telegram" from a Serbian-language account, on January 21, a post was published claiming that on that day at the border crossing in Jarinje, a gun was fired at a person employed by the Serbian Ministry of Interior. After conducting research, hibrid.info has not found this information published in the main Albanian and Serbian-language media that it monitors on a daily basis, and this case was not reported in the 24-hour report of the Kosovo Police. (here)
Clickbait
The dubious portal named “AtdheuLajm” published an article on January 22, the title of which claims a drop in the price of wood and pellets. After verification by hibrid.info, the content of this article is understood to be about developments in the Serbian state. Considering the fact that this portal is in Albanian, the lack of clarification of the place of the news makes the title of the article general. (here)
A Facebook social media page has published an article regarding a government decision, where the caption reads "The government allocated 2.5 million euros for measure 2.1. This category benefits". However, after clicking on the link provided in the post, an article with the same title appears, but published on November 1, 2023. Hibrid.info, after verifying the facts, has confirmed that the claim is unfounded and that this decision is old and does not correspond to current events in the country. (here)
An information portal with content in the Albanian language has published an article titled “Tragic/ Shopping center engulfed in flames, 25 dead reported”. After verifying the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that the title of this article is a generalization, as it does not clarify in which country the event occurred, implying that the event occurred in an Albanian-speaking country, as is the language of the portal that published it. (here)
The information portal “sot.com.al” has published today (January 27) an article titled “Serious/ Shooting at a school, one reported dead”. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the title of the article is a generalization, which does not clarify in which country the event took place. In addition to the generalization title, hibrid.info has also confirmed that the photo included in this article does not belong to this event that took place in the USA. (here)
The Albanian-language information portal, named "sot.com.al", published yesterday (January 25) an article titled "Hospital engulfed in flames, cause revealed". After verification by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the title of this article is general, as it does not clarify in which country this event occurred. (here)
Lies
The Facebook page “FSK Kosovo Security Force” published a photo on January 18 showing a soldier with the Kosovo flag and another logo on his left arm. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that the soldier in the photo is a member of the Swedish Armed Forces, and the original image had the Swedish flag removed from the soldier’s arm and replaced with the Kosovo flag. (here)
The Facebook page called “Personal Loan” published on January 19 an image that it presents as a rating from a client, who according to this page was satisfied with the procedures for obtaining a loan. After verification of the facts carried out by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that the image with the rating from a client, this page received from the microfinance institution “AFK – Agency for Financing in Kosovo”. (here)
error
The magazine portal “monitor.al” has published an article, the title of which correctly states that Kosovo and Albania are ranked as the last countries in Europe in terms of income, in terms of purchasing power. In the content of this same article, it is claimed that these two countries also stand last in Europe, according to purchasing power. After verification by hibrid.info, in the IMF reports, for the years 2023 and 2024, it has been confirmed that Ukraine is ranked last in Europe in this respect. (here)
Conspiracy theory
The Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia published a statement on January 21 regarding the looting of two houses belonging to Serbian families in the village of Bërnica e Poshtme, near Pristina. Regarding the looting, this institution stated that the action was carried out with the “purpose of expelling Serbs from their homes”. After verification of the facts carried out by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that the purpose and perpetrators of the crime are unknown. (here)
Fake news
A Facebook account published on January 17 several images of the historic monument of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Through the caption and images in this post, it is claimed that the Eiffel Tower has caught fire and is burning. However, after research and verification of the facts conducted by hibrid.info, it has been proven that this claim is not correct. (here)
A TikTok account has published a video claiming that Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have met. The claim further claims that after this meeting, Turkey will send 10 additional military troops to help Kosovo. Hibrid.info has verified that the last meeting of these two leaders took place in February 2023, which is also where the image published in the video was taken. Meanwhile, the last announcements about sending additional troops to Kosovo by NATO were found in October of last year, after the armed attack on the Kosovo Police in the north of the country. (here)