Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj
Monitoring of the last week (October 6–12, 2025) has shown that the misinformation space and social networks have been dominated by fake news.
The fake news was mainly published on TikTok and Facebook, where graphics and posts claiming to present fake poll results for local elections in several municipalities in Kosovo were shared. Between 2 and 5 October, the pages “Lajme Flash”, “gilan2026” and “Deçani+” published unfounded claims for Pristina, Gjilan and Deçani. On 6 October, the agency “EkonomiaOnline.com” and the page “NewsKs” published another fake poll for Deçani. On 7–8 October, the pages “Gazetaria” and “Lajme Flash” as well as videos on TikTok published fake graphics for Peja, Viti and Pristina. From October 8 to 11, several anonymous pages distributed unauthorized polls for Prizren, Suhareka, Obiliq and Lipjan, while on October 12, fake “exit polls” were also published by the page “Suhareka Aktuale” and the profile “Murat Maci”, as well as a post from the page “Zgjedhjet” that claimed to show national support for political parties. In all cases, sources, methodology and measurement institutions are missing, making these publications typical examples of electoral disinformation on social networks.
The post from the “Murat Maci” account has been assessed as fake news/fraud, as it appeared as if the “KlanKosova.tv” portal had published an article with the title “Klan Kosova: Fatmir Sheholli we are with you, stay strong. Justice for Fatmir Sheholli!”, following Sheholli’s arrest by the Kosovo Police on suspicion of espionage. Verification of the facts has shown that such an article does not exist on the “Klan Kosova” page, while the medium itself has reacted publicly by describing the post as false and manipulated.
The conspiracy theories identified during the week were published on RTV Dukagjini, on Russian propaganda portals and through statements by Serbian officials. On the show “Rreth e Rrotull” on October 6, conspiracy theorist Arianit Sllamniku claimed that after the October 12 elections, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić would order the Serbian army to enter Kosovo, without any verifiable facts or sources. That same week, the propaganda website “albania.news-pravda.com” published an article with pro-Serbian narratives accusing Kosovo institutions of “political pressure on Serbs”. On October 8, after the receipt of Turkish “Skydagger” drones by the KSF, Petar Petković’s reactions about “threats to Serbs” were assessed as conspiracy theories, as they were not based on any independent facts. Along the same lines, Petkovic also reacted to President Vjosa Osmani's statement, calling her and Prime Minister Albin Kurti "synonymous with election theft" — an unfounded claim that reinforces Belgrade's conspiratorial narratives of political interference in Kosovo.
Fake news
During October 2–5, three cases of fake polls were identified on TikTok and Facebook for Pristina, Gjilan, and Deçan. The page “Lajme Flash” claimed that Uran Ismaili was leading in Pristina with 28%, the TikTok account “gilan2026” claimed that Alban Hyseni was leading in Gjilan with 52%, while “Deçan+” published alleged figures for a runoff between Bashkim Ramosaj and Shkumbin Demaliaj. None of these publications provided a source, methodology, or measurement company, and online searches did not find any credible polls — proving that these are clear cases of election disinformation. (here)
The news agency “EkonomiaOnline.com” published on Monday, October 6, 2025, an article claiming a poll regarding the October 12 elections in Deçan, referring to a publication on the Facebook page “NewsKs”. However, the same turns out to be unfounded according to the facts. The “NewsKs” page does not provide any information on the author, institution or methodology of the poll, therefore it cannot be considered a reliable source of information. Also, the search conducted by Hibrid.info on “Google” with the keywords “Poll for the October 12 elections in Deçan” did not yield any publications from the media or sources of verified credibility, which consequently concludes that the claim about the existence of this poll is unfounded. (here)
On October 7–8, hibrid.info identified several fake social media graphics claiming to present polls for Peja, Viti, and Pristina. On TikTok, a video with the caption “Everything is being turned upside down in Peja” showed party percentages without any source. The “Gazetaria” Facebook page published a “poll” for Viti, citing a “prestigious company,” but without any evidence, while the page had been inactive for months and its link led to adult websites. Meanwhile, “Lajme Flash” claimed that Uran Ismaili was leading in Pristina with 37%, without any real poll to support this. After research conducted by hibrid.info, it was found that there is no recent public poll measuring support for the candidates for mayor of Pristina. (here)
Six publications, from October 8 to October 11, from different websites claim to present polls for the mayoral race in the local elections in Prizren, Suhareka, Obiliq and Lipjan. After verification by hibrid.info, it turns out that they are not based on credible sources. Some of them have also mentioned that they were allegedly carried out by various organizations or institutes that, after research, turn out that they are not officially registered as businesses or non-governmental organizations in Kosovo. (here)
On Sunday, October 12, two fake posts were published on the social network Facebook, claiming to present the results of Exit Polls for the mayoral race in Suhareka and Lipjan. One of the posts, published at around 17:25 by the page “Suhareka Aktuale”, contains a graphic that claims to show the results of an Exit Poll, where the candidate of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Ardian Shala, is at the top. After verifying the facts, Hibrid.info has concluded that this Exit Poll is not credible, as there is no information on the institution that conducted it, the methodology used and the time of the measurement. (here)
On Sunday, October 12, 2025, the Facebook profile “Murat Maci” published three so-called polls for local elections in Prizren, Gjakova, and Mitrovica. The posts are presented in graphical form and with written analysis, but do not contain any data on the methodology used, the period of implementation, or the number of respondents – essential elements to make a poll credible. An internet search did not yield any results from any media or research institution supporting this data, raising serious doubts about its authenticity. (here)
A photo is published showing citizen support for political entities in Kosovo with the caption claiming to represent a national-level measurement. This content was published today (October 12) by a Facebook page called “Elections”. Hibrid.info found the poll unreliable. (here)
Fake news / Fraud
The “Murat Maci” account on Facebook published on Thursday (October 9) a post in which images of the “KlanKosova.tv” portal are displayed, where the photograph shows the portrait of Fatmir Sheholli, arrested today (October 9) by the Kosovo Police, under suspicion of espionage. In this post from the aforementioned account, a title “Klan Kosova: Famir Sheholli we are with you, stay strong. Justice for Fatmir Sheholli!” appears. After verifying the facts, it was confirmed that an article with such a title was not published by the online medium “KlanKosova.tv”. This medium has also reacted to this post by calling it “false and manipulated”. (here)
Conspiracy theory
In the show “Rreth e Rrotull” broadcast on October 6 on RTV Dukagjini, the guest was conspiracy theorist Arianit Sllamniku, who claimed that after the local elections on October 12, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, will order the introduction of the Serbian army into Kosovo. However, throughout the discussion, Sllamniku did not offer any verifiable facts or sources that would support this claim, relying only on assumptions and personal interpretations of political events. His statements about the unilateral formation of the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities and about a possible military intervention by Serbia constitute conspiracy theories that are not based on concrete evidence or official statements. (here)
The Russian propaganda domain “albania.news-pravda.com” has published an article claiming that the Kosovo authorities are exerting pressure on the Serbian community through intimidation and political exclusion in the run-up to the October 12 elections. The text relies on well-known pro-Serbian narratives, presenting Kosovo as a state that oppresses and hinders the representation of Serbs in political processes. The article lacks verifiable facts and sources that would support the claims made. Instead, it relies on repeated narratives and unfounded connections, which aim to create the impression of pressure on the Serbian community in Kosovo. (here)
On October 8, the Kosovo Security Force received “Skydagger” combat drones from Turkey, as announced by the Government and Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Vjosa Osmani stated that the purchase of drones is part of the modernization of defense capacities according to NATO standards and to ensure peace and stability in the region. Osmani referred to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who criticized Turkey for arming Kosovo and accused it of destabilizing the Western Balkans. In response, Petar Petković claimed that this armament is not for defense, but to intimidate and threaten the Serbian community. This reaction by Petković does not provide any facts or independent sources to support the accusations of “threat” or “aggression” by Kosovo institutions, but remains within the framework of the narratives constructed by Serbian officials for the local elections of October 12. (here)
The Director of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, Petar Petkovic, reacted to President Vjosa Osmani's statement about Serbia's interference in the local elections in Kosovo, calling her and Prime Minister Albin Kurti "synonymous with election theft". However, the connection that Petkovic made with President Osmani's statement, as well as the mention of the case of Xhem Hoxha, do not give any credibility to his claim. Hoxha's case is an isolated individual action, handled by the Kosovo justice system, while Petkovic's interpretation of it remains at the level of a political conspiracy. (here)