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[ ARTICLE ]

Weekly Review: Fake local election polls, disinformation in Serbian media that Kurti is secretly preparing an attack on Serbs

HIBRID

Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj

Over the past week (September 29–October 5, 2025), monitoring has shown that the misinformation space and that on social networks has been dominated by fake news and disinformation content.

Two fake news stories about election polls were published on Facebook. The account “Qoka-al” shared a “poll” for South Mitrovica without a clear source or methodology, while “Shadervani” falsely claimed that an American company had conducted a poll for Prizren – a claim that Hibrid.info verified as false.

During the week, cases of disinformation were also identified on Facebook and in Serbian media. The website “Anamorava Lajm” published a supposed “survey” in Viti on September 29, claiming to have surveyed 1305 citizens, but without providing data on the methodology or the period of development, which makes the survey unreliable. Meanwhile, Serbian media spread false claims that Albin Kurti is secretly preparing an attack on Serbs, linking it to KSF sniper training. These articles did not provide any concrete facts, while the KSF clarified that the training was only aimed at building professional capacities.

A manipulative post was published in the “Kosovo with Albin Kurti” group on Facebook, claiming that Imer Mushkolaj had shared a photo of the mayors of Pristina and Peja, criticizing them for not fulfilling their promises. After verification, it was found that Mushkolaj had not published the aforementioned photo and had not specified names in his article.

Unverified content has been shared on the social network Facebook, where photos of camouflaged snipers were published with the claim that they are members of the KSF. Initially, they were published on September 25 by the page “Mitrovice Qyteti im”, and then on September 27 by “Mendim.al” and “Prishtina News”. However, verification by Hibrid.info has shown that the photos do not depict members of the KSF.

Clickbait was observed in the article by the medium “botasot.info” with the title “Baton Haxhiu attacks Kurti: His narrative is in line with Serbia”. The part after the colon was misinterpreted as a quote from Haxhiu, although it was the author's interpretation, making the title unclear and with the aim of encouraging clicks.

Manipulation of facts

In the group called “Kosova me Albin Kurti” on Facebook, the account with the same name claimed that columnist Imer Mushkolaj had published a photo of the mayors of Pristina and Peja, accompanied by a criticism of the promises of some mayors who, according to him, have not fulfilled their mandates and are now seeking another mandate. However, after verification, it was found that Mushkolaj, in the article in question, did not specify who he was talking about and did not publish the alleged photo. (here)

Unverified content

Photographs showing snipers camouflaged in special clothing that makes them blend in with the environment have been published, with the caption claiming that they are snipers of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF). Initially, this content with this claim was published on Thursday (September 25) by a Facebook page called “Mitrovice Qyteti im”. It was then published on Saturday (September 27) by the pages “Mendim.al” and “Prishtina News”. Hibrid.info has found that the photographs with which the claim was published do not depict KSF snipers. (here)

disinformation

Through a post published on September 29, the Facebook page “Anamorava Lajm” claimed to have conducted a field survey in 19 localities of the municipality of Viti, with the participation of 1305 citizens, from which the results of a poll for the local elections of October 12 were published. However, “Anamorava Lajm” is only a Facebook page and does not represent any specialized institution for surveys, according to what Hibrid.info has managed to find through online research. In addition, no clear data is provided on the time when the survey was conducted and the measurement period, which makes this survey suspicious and not credible. (here)

Serbian media articles alleged that Albin Kurti is secretly preparing an attack on Serbs in Kosovo, linking this to the KSF’s sniper training and the use of modern equipment. The Serbian media articles provide no facts to support these allegations, making the claim unfounded speculation and part of a propaganda narrative. However, according to the official KSF Facebook page, these trainings are only intended to build operational capacities and certify members as professional snipers, with no connection to attacks on specific communities. (here)

Fake news

A content is published with the caption that it presents a survey of citizen support for candidates for mayor in South Mitrovica. This post was published on Monday (September 29) by a Facebook account named “Qoka-al”. Hibrid.info has noticed that it is not clear which specialized polling institution conducted the survey, while the latter lacks data on the methodology and period of measurement. (here)

The “Shadervani” Facebook account falsely claimed that a poll for the mayor of Prizren in the local elections of October 12 was conducted by a prestigious American company. Hibrid.info has verified online and has not found that there is an American company with this name or acronym that deals with measuring public opinion. Also, reporting on the poll for the mayor of Prizren has not been found in any credible media. (here)

Clickbait

The online medium "botasot.info" published the article with the title "Baton Haxhiu attacks Kurti: His narrative is in line with Serbia”. The title has created ambiguity, due to the possible interpretation of the part after the colon (:) in the title by readers. Based on the way the title is structured and due to the lack of clarity, readers on Facebook seem to have interpreted the phrase after the colon as a quote from Haxhiu. However, the part after the colon was the author’s interpretation of Haxhiu’s statements and not a direct quote from him. The article was published as news, where subjective interpretations and assessments are usually avoided. (here)

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