Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj
Articles that have been labeled as "fake news" and "fake news/hoax" are what have dominated over the past week in terms of misinformation published in the media, dubious portals, and social media pages and accounts.
The fake news was published by Albanian-language accounts on Tiktok and Serbian-language media. On Tiktok, claims were published that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti had announced a change to the look of the Kosovo state flag; and that former President Hashim Thaçi had been sentenced to 25 years in prison for 100 murders and genocide. Serbian-language media published a false statement by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić that the former mayor of South Mitrovica, Agim Bahtiri, on the orders of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, had already scheduled a rally as a counter-rally in relation to the Serb protest.
The fake news/hoaxes were published by social media pages and accounts. A sponsored link, in the form of an image, was published on Facebook with the caption claiming that pensions in Kosovo will increase in 2024; a content titled “The Bank of Kosovo is suing Vehbi Kajtazi for what he said on live television"; various Facebook social media pages published photographs of several political officials and journalists in Kosovo, claiming that they had passed away.
Unverified content was published in Albanian media claiming that two people were injured in a car accident that occurred in Veternik, one of whom was reported to be a member of KFOR.
The misinformation was published by Albanian-language TikTok accounts and Serbian-language media. A video was published on TikTok claiming that the US Army’s “Green Berets” had surrounded northern Kosovo and Ujmani, both from the ground and from the air. Meanwhile, Serbian-language media reported that (August 8) officials who were painting the wall near the main bridge over the Ibar River had also covered the Serbian flags that were painted in that area.
Publications with misleading headlines in Albanian media regarding the opening of the Ibar Bridge were assessed as misinformation/clickbait; as well as the claim in the headline that the Serbian army is entering Kosovo.
A video posted on Facebook, which claims to show what graphene oxide looks like in the Covid-19 vaccine, has been deemed a conspiracy theory.
The manipulation of facts has been published in Albanian media, claiming that Richard Grenell, the former US ambassador to Germany, has revealed details about how the "Kurti 1 Government" was overthrown.
The publication on Facebook of a sponsored link, in the form of an image, with the caption claiming that the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MASTI) will offer over 75 free courses for people aged 18 and over has been deemed deceptive content.
The clickbait article was published by the dubious portal with content in the Albanian language "atdheulajm.com" regarding earthquakes recorded in Greece, without indicating in the title where the event occurred.
Unverified content
It was alleged that during Saturday (August 3) in a car accident that occurred in Veternik, two people were injured, one of whom was reported to be a member of KFOR. The article with this claim was published by several online media outlets such as “Sinjali.com” and “Botasot.info”. Based on the work methodology, hibrid.info assesses the article published on the portals “Sinjali.com” and “Botasot.info”, as “Unverified Content”. (here)
Fake news
Content is being published claiming that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has announced a change to the look of the Kosovo state flag. This claim was published through an image on TikTok by an account named “sunduesinates”. The image shows the Kosovo flag and the changed flag where the map of Kosovo has been replaced with the two-headed eagle of the Albanian national flag. Hibrid.info has found that there is no official decision to change the look of the Kosovo state flag. (here)
Content is being published claiming that former President Hashim Thaçi has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for 100 murders and genocide. The claim was published on TikTok by the account named “fatjona989” through a video material, which shows footage inside the courtroom at the “Specialized Chambers” facility in The Hague, where Thaçi is being tried on charges of war crimes. The court has not yet made any decision on former President Thaçi. (here)
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has stated that the former mayor of the South Mitrovica Municipality, Agim Bahtiri, on the orders of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has already scheduled a rally as a counter-rally in relation to the Serb protest, which was expected to be held (August 7) from 11:00 at “Tsar Lazar” Square. After verifying the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that this claim is not true. Kurti has denied Vučić’s claim, describing it as false. Meanwhile, Bahtiri, through his Facebook account, has stated that it is time to organize a grand rally, in which the citizens of North and South Mitrovica unanimously demand the opening of the Ibar Bridge. However, he has not set any date for this rally. Also, based on Bahtir's post, there is no mention at any time that such a rally will be held on Kurti's orders, as the Serbian president claims without evidence. (here)
Fake news/Hoax
A sponsored link is published, in the form of an image, with the caption claiming that pensions will increase in Kosovo in 2024. The content, which also includes a photo of Albin Kurti, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, was published on August 3 on Facebook by the page named “Chirstest2-service”. Hibrid.info has researched and confirmed that no pension increase is foreseen for this year. The content has been observed to have 24 comments as of the time of writing this article. (here)
Content titled “The Bank of Kosovo is suing Vehbi Kajtazi for what he said on live television”. The content claims to be an interview between journalist Berat Buzhala and another journalist, Vehbi Kajtazi, where the latter tells about a way to get rich, through the online platform “Nearest Edge”. The article also claims that the show was interrupted by a phone call from what is said to be the Bank of Kosovo, but within the article a part of this alleged interview between Buzhala and Kajtazi is also shown. This content, which is presented as information published by the portal “telegrafi.com”, was published by a website in the name of the online platform “Nearest Edge”. The findings show that this content was published in an unauthorized manner on behalf of a medium and used false statements to present the intended information. (here)
Various Facebook social media pages published photos of several political officials and journalists in Kosovo, claiming that they had passed away. These posts featured the names and logos of several online media outlets in Albanian and Serbian. However, after research conducted by hibrid.info, none of these media outlets published any articles with such claims. All of these contents contain false claims and are visually manipulated. (here)
disinformation
A video claims that the US Army's "Green Berets" have surrounded northern Kosovo and Ujman, both from the ground and from the air. The video with this claim was published on TikTok by the "gazettajournal" account on August 5. Hibrid.info has confirmed that the video is from 2018, when American KFOR members were tasked with monitoring Lake Ujman. (here)
It was alleged (August 8) that officials who were painting the wall near the main bridge over the Ibar River also covered with paint the Serbian flags that were painted on that part. This claim was made by the Serbian-language online media outlet “Kosovo-Online.com”. After checking the facts, hibrid.info confirmed that there were no Serbian flags painted on the wall near the main bridge over the Ibar River. Also, the video published by the portal “Kosovo-Online.com” itself does not show any images that prove that during the painting of this wall, Serbian flags were also covered with paint. (here)
Misinformation/Clickbait
The title of a content claims that “The Ibri Bridge is opening”, while the cover of the video material contains the inscription “EU ON THE SIDE OF KOSOVO”. The claim was found in the video material published on August 7 on the NTV television channel on Youtube. Hibrid.info has found that the claim that the Ibri Bridge has been opened is not correct. Also, the European Union (EU) has not come out on the side of Kosovo regarding the issue of opening this bridge, as claimed by the aforementioned channel. (here)
A video of a television news report has been published, showing the news item with the title “SERBI ARMY ENTERS KOSOVO”. This content was published (August 9) on TikTok by the account named “ntvtelevisión”, which is the account of the television “NTV Televizión”. After verification, hibrid.info has learned that this news item informs about the meeting between the commander of the NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR, Ozkan Ulutas, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, Milan Mojsilović, in Belgrade. This means that the title of this news item does not contain the topic of the news item read and presented in this video. (here)
Conspiracy theory
Through a video material, it is claimed that the images show graphene oxide as it appears in the Covid-19 vaccine. This content was published today (August 7) on Facebook by the account named “Investiguesi Shkrimor”. After fact-checking conducted by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the video is old, found and published no earlier than 2016. Also, after research conducted online, it was confirmed that Covid-19 vaccines do not contain graphene oxide, as claimed by the aforementioned account. (here)
Manipulation of facts
Content is published claiming that Richard Grenell, the former US ambassador to Germany, has revealed details about how the “Kurti 1 Government” was overthrown. This claim was published (August 1) through an article by the medium “botasot.info” and bears the title ““They came to my office and told me we are ready for the division of Kosovo, just leave…”, details emerge about how “Grenell overthrew Kurti””. From the content it is noted that the article is based on a post by Luan Gacaferi, a member of the leadership of the “Guxo” party, on Facebook, which is not explained in the title. (here)
Lies
A sponsored link, in the form of an image, has been published with the caption that the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MASHTI) will offer over 75 free courses for people aged 18 and over. This content was published on August 6 on Facebook by a page named “Noah Harris”. Hibrid.info has found that the claimed opportunity is not offered by MASHTI. (here)
Clickbait
The dubious portal with content in the Albanian language “atdheulajm.com” has published an article about earthquakes recorded in Greece, without indicating in the title where the event occurred. The failure to clarify the location of the event in the title by this dubious portal written in the Albanian language may lead to misinformation of readers, leaving room for the implication that the earthquakes occurred in one of the Albanian-speaking areas. (here)
False statement
Serbian President Vučić, through a press conference, spoke about the action (August 5) to close nine Serbian Post offices in the north, claiming that Kurti Kurti is trying to provoke a conflict and that according to him, he is doing it in an organized manner with the support of some Western powers. However, this statement of his does not hold true. The US Embassy in Kosovo and the European Union have assessed this action as a unilateral and uncoordinated action of the Kosovo authorities to close nine Serbian Post offices in the north of Kosovo. (here)