Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj
Fake news has dominated the misinformation sphere over the past week, spread through media outlets, dubious portals, and social media accounts.
The fake news was mainly published on TikTok, including various topics related to the parliamentary elections in Kosovo. A post from the account “me.qeverine.kurti3” claimed that Shefqet Krasniqi had made a statement against the “Coalition for Families”, which after verification turned out to be untrue. Also, two fake polls were published by the accounts “dedekt1v1” and “petritkrasniqi_”, which claimed to have been carried out by an American company, but were not found in any credible source. Another case of disinformation included the claim that Granit Plava, Naim Murseli and Kushtrim Kokalla had been sentenced to life imprisonment, while only the initial hearing against them had been held on January 31.
Conspiracy theories related to the Kosovo elections have been published in several Serbian media outlets and political sources. The Serbian List reported an incident on January 25 in Ranilug/Ranillug, where a Molotov cocktail was thrown in front of the house of its activist, Aleksandra Popović, setting the family car on fire. Petar Petković, director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, described the act as an attempt to intimidate members of the Serbian List and to hinder election monitoring, claiming that the aim was to facilitate electoral manipulation by Albin Kurti. However, no evidence has been provided linking the case to the election process, while police continue their investigations to identify the perpetrators and motives. Meanwhile, an article in the Serbian media claims that the anti-Serbian rhetoric of Albin Kurti and the Vetëvendosje Movement has contributed to the increase in support for this party in the upcoming elections, based on a poll by the Valicon agency predicting around 50% of the vote for Vetëvendosje. The article links this support to ethnic rhetoric, but the poll does not provide data on the concrete factors shaping voters' opinions.
A post by the TikTok account “dedekt1v1” was deemed fake news/scam, publishing two fake polls on support for political parties in Kosovo, claiming to be from “American Survey.” After online research, it was confirmed that these polls do not exist in any credible media.
The publication on several information portals of an article titled "Finnish Ambassador: Strengthening partnership with the EU and NATO increases Kosovo's security", mistakenly using a photograph of another person instead of the Finnish ambassador to Kosovo, Matti Nissinen, was considered a mistake.
Disinformation this week has been spread mainly on Facebook. The page “Lajme Nga Bota” published a poll on January 22nd claiming that the Vetëvendosje Movement has 54.1% support, more than all parties combined. After verification, it was confirmed that this poll is old, from 2021. Another post claimed that Albin Kurti, after a rally in Skenderaj on February 27th, was received by Rifat Jashari, as proof of the Jashari family’s support for Vetëvendosje. In fact, the photo is from 2023 and the Jashari family has stated that it remains outside political and electoral involvement.
This week, cases of unverified and misleading content have been identified on social media. A video posted by “tv_teuta” on Threads claimed that during an LDK rally, citizens were chanting “Albin baba”. After verification, it was confirmed that the audio was overlaid from an LVV rally in Vushtrri. Another misleading video was posted by “KosovaPost.net” on Facebook, showing a crowd at “Abi Çarshia” in Prizren as part of a speech by Albin Kurti. In fact, the video dates back to the concerts before the New Year, while the audio was taken from an LVV rally on January 20 in Vushtrri.
A video published on TikTok was deemed a hoax, claiming that during Albin Kurti's speech at the election rally in Suhareka, chants of "KLA" and "Hashim Thaçi" were heard. After verification by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that the video was manipulated, as there were no such chants in the original version.
Fake news/Hoax
A TikTok account has published two polls on popular support for political entities in Kosovo, ahead of the parliamentary elections on February 9. Through the description in these two publications, it is claimed that these polls are American (American Survey). These two posts were published yesterday (January 26) on TikTok by the account “dedekt1v1”. After research conducted online, it was confirmed that both of these polls are fake and the same have not been found published in any credible media. (here)
Conspiracy theory
The Serbian List announced that on January 25, unknown persons threw a Molotov cocktail in front of the house of its activist, Aleksandra Popović, in Ranilug. According to the Serbian List, this explosive device hit the Popović family's car, completely burning it. Petar Petković, the director of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, stated that this act was intended to intimidate Serbian List members in the commissions and prevent them from monitoring the elections, as he said, in order to pave the way for electoral manipulations by Albin Kurti. Neither Petar Petković nor the Serbian List have provided evidence to support the claim that the case in Ranilug is related to the elections. The police have emphasized that the case is under investigation and the perpetrators and motives of the act are still unknown. (here)
An article in the Serbian media claims that the “anti-Serbian rhetoric” of Albin Kurti and the Vetevendosje Movement has contributed to electoral gains, influencing the increase in support for it in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Kosovo. The article is based on a poll by the Valicon agency, which predicts a victory of around 50% of the votes for Vetevendosje, which the Serbian media interprets this percentage as a result of “anti-Serbian rhetoric”. The poll does not include the reasons for the support of political parties, such as factors that influence the formation of voters’ opinion, including campaigns and policies promoted during the pre-election period. (here)
Fake news
A TikTok post claims to be a statement by the cleric Shefqet Krasniqi about the “Coalition for Families”, a political entity that will compete in the parliamentary elections on February 9. “Shefqet Krasniqi: Eman Rrahmani’s list has nothing to do with the Islamic religion, it is a political party that is competing for a seat. Nothing more!” is the caption that was placed on a photo of Krasniqi, in the post made on January 25 by the “me.qeverine.kurti3” account on TikTok. After verifying the facts, hibrid.info has not found that anything like this was said by Krasniqi. The content as in the TikTok claim has not been found and published anywhere else. (here)
An image is published that presents a survey regarding the citizen support of political entities in Kosovo for the parliamentary elections of February 9, which was allegedly conducted by the American company SDGs Global Survey. In this survey, political entities are listed with the following data: LDK 32%, VV 25%, PDK 24% and AAK 9.5%. After research conducted by hibrid.info, no such survey published by credible sources, nor by the company referred to in the claim, has been found. (here)
A TikTok post claimed that Granit Plava, Naim Murseli and Kushtrim Kokalla were sentenced to life imprisonment. The truth is that on Friday (January 31), only the initial hearing was held against the three accused for their involvement in the murder of Liridona Ademaj on November 29, 2023. (here)
An image was published that claims to present a survey, through which data on electoral support for political entities in Kosovo is presented, ahead of the parliamentary elections on February 9. This content was published yesterday (January 31) on TikTok by the account “petritkrasniqi_”. The results of this survey are: Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV) – 35% %, Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) – 29 %, Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) – 23.2 %, Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) – 7.8 % and “OTHERS” 5%. Hibrid.info has found that this survey was not conducted by credible organizations that measure public opinion. Also, this content was not found published by any credible media. (here)
error
Several news portals have published an article with the title: “Finnish Ambassador: Strengthening Partnership with EU and NATO Increases Kosovo’s Security”. The illustrative photo of the article uses the image of another person, instead of the photo of the Finnish Ambassador to Kosovo, Matti Nissinen. (here)
disinformation
A post was published claiming to present the results of the latest poll for the February 9 elections in Kosovo. In the description of this post, it is claimed that the data from this poll shows the Vetëvendosje Movement with 54.1%, more than all other parties combined. This poll was published on January 22 by the “Lajme Nga Bota” Facebook page. After online research by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that this poll is old, published in 2021. (here)
In a Facebook post, it is alleged that Prime Minister and leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, after tensions at his party's rally in Skenderaj on February 27, was received by Rifat Jashari. The claim continues by emphasizing that this proves that the family of the KLA commander, Adem Jashari, is on the side of Vetëvendosje. However, after verifying the facts, it turns out that the alleged photo, in which Kurti is seen with Rifat Jashari, is from 2023. The Jashari family has also stated that they will continue to remain out of active involvement in political parties and electoral processes. (here)
Unverified content/Fraud
A short video clip from one of the electoral rallies of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) was published, showing the leader of this entity, also a candidate for prime minister, Lumir Abdixhiku. Through this video, it is alleged that at this rally, during the completion of a sentence by Abdixhiku, citizens began to chant “Albin baba”, which is related to the name of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti. This video with this claim was published on the social media Threads by the account of the Teuta television from Montenegro, “tv_teuta”. After a fact-check conducted by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that there was interference in this video clip, to which the audio of a rally of the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV) in Vushtrri was superimposed, with the claim to appear as chants at the LDK rally. (here)
The Facebook page of the news portal “KosovaPost.net” has published a video showing a crowd of people at the “Abi Çarshia” shopping center in Prizren. The video features the speech of the leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Albin Kurti. After verifying the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that the audio has been superimposed on the video. While the video was found to date from concerts that this center held before the new year, the audio was taken from Kurti’s speech on January 20 at the Vetëvendosje rally in Vushtrri, as part of the electoral campaign for the February 9 elections. (here)
Lies
In a video published on TikTok, it is claimed that during the speech of the leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, at the election rally in Suhareka, there were calls of "KLA" and "Hashim Thaçi" during his speech. However, after verification of the facts by hibrid.info, it turns out that the video is manipulated. In the original video, there were no such cheers from the supporters at the rally. (here)