During the monitoring period of July 20–25, articles with clickbait headlines dominated the misinformation space. Such content used sensational and often misleading headlines to attract the audience’s attention and encourage clicks, while in some cases the content of the article did not match the claims presented in the headline.
During the monitoring period of 20–25 July, clickbait content was published mainly on Facebook, through the pages “Gazeta Minuti”, “Gazeta Diaspora” and “Trendi.info”, and covered various topics, including murder cases outside Albanian-speaking territories, Kosovo’s membership in NATO and political developments related to the presidential election. The titles and captions of these contents were formulated in a sensational or unclear manner, leaving room for misinterpretation. Among the cases identified, “Gazeta Minuti” published content about murders that occurred in Mexico and Turkey, without specifying the location in the titles, while “Gazeta Diaspora” and “Trendi.info” presented a statement by US Congressman Keith Self as the position of the US Congress on Kosovo’s membership in NATO. Also, “Gazeta Minuti” published content suggesting that LVV had announced the candidates for president, although the article only reported statements by Arbërie Nagavci about potential persons for this position.
The misleading and fact-manipulated content was distributed mainly on Facebook and online portals, addressing sports topics and sensitive political and legal developments. One case of fraud was related to an image of Lamine Yamali, published by the sites “Fakt Futboll” and “Favorit Zone”, where it was claimed that the Spanish footballer had sent the World Cup trophy to his grandmother, while the analysis of Hibrid.info showed that the image may have been generated by artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, cases of fact-manipulation were published by “GazetaMetro.net”, “TRT Balkan” and on Facebook by the accounts “B. Cogdell” and “Kosova Today”, claiming that Hashim Thaçi’s request for conditional release had been rejected. However, at that time it was only known that the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office had rejected the request, while the final decision belonged to the court.
Conspiratorial narratives were spread mainly through Serbian media, focusing on the presence and future of the KFOR mission in Kosovo. Following NATO’s announcement of the gradual optimization and reduction of KFOR’s presence, some Serbian media promoted claims that this process could lead to the complete withdrawal of the mission and the transfer of security responsibilities to Kosovo institutions. In these narratives, the possible departure of KFOR from the Ibar Bridge and the Deçan Monastery was presented as a “green light” for the continuation of the alleged “ethnic cleansing” of Serbs, while the Kosovo Police was portrayed as a threat to the Serbian community and the Serbian Orthodox Church. However, these claims do not match NATO’s position, which has clarified that it is a matter of gradual optimization of KFOR’s presence, based on security assessments and the situation on the ground, while the mission continues to have an active mandate in Kosovo.
Clickbait
The Facebook page “Gazeta Minuti” has published two posts about murder cases without stating in the headlines that the events took place outside Albanian-speaking territories. Since this page publishes content in Albanian, the headlines and images used have left open the possibility of being misinterpreted as if the cases took place in Albanian-speaking territories. Only after clicking on the links does it become clear that the events took place in Mexico and Turkey. This way of presentation has led to misinterpretations by some commentators on Facebook. (here)
Content is published with the caption and title “Big news comes from Washington: US Congress seeks Kosovo’s membership in NATO”. The content was published in this way on Monday (July 20), on Facebook, on the pages with the names “Gazeta Diaspora” and “Trendi.info”. The title does not specify that it is a statement by a congressman. Such wording creates the impression that the US Congress, as the legislative body of the United States of America, has made an official decision or expressed an institutional position in support of Kosovo’s membership in NATO. However, the information presented in the content is related to the statement of Congressman Keith Self, chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe in the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US House of Representatives. (here)
An image is published with the caption “LVV shows who the candidates for President are”. This content was published on Tuesday (July 21) on Facebook, by the page named “Gazeta Minuti”. Such caption creates the impression that the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV) has announced the names of the candidates for the post of president. The content of the article does not bring specific names of the candidates for this position, but only reports the statements of Arbërie Nagavci that LVV has people who could be worthy of the post of president. (here)
Conspiracy theory
Following NATO's announcement of a gradual optimization and reduction of KFOR's presence in Kosovo, some Serbian media outlets have promoted claims that this means transferring security to Kosovo institutions and could lead to a complete withdrawal of KFOR. These narratives have been reinforced by speculation that KFOR's departure from the Ibar Bridge and the Deçan Monastery would give the "green light" to the end of the "ethnic cleansing" of Serbs, while the Kosovo Police is presented as a threat to the Serbian community and the Serbian Orthodox Church. However, NATO has clarified that this is a gradual optimization of KFOR's presence, based on security assessments and conditions on the ground, and that the mission continues to have an active mandate, while any changes may be reviewed if the security situation deteriorates. (here)
Lies
An image has been published showing Lamine Yamal, a footballer for the Spanish national team, next to an older woman, who is wearing a red T-shirt and traditional headscarf, and a younger girl with light hair, wearing a white T-shirt and jeans. The three are shown holding the World Cup trophy in their hands, with the caption claiming that the Spanish footballer sent the prize to his grandmother. This content in Albanian was published on Tuesday (July 21) on Facebook, on the pages named “Fakt Futboll” and “Favorit Zone”. However, hibrid.info found that this image may have been generated by artificial intelligence (AI). (here)
Manipulation of facts
Content has been published claiming that Hashim Thaçi, the former president of Kosovo, has had his request for conditional release from detention rejected by the Special Court. The content with this claim was published on Wednesday by the media outlets “GazetaMetro.net” and “TRT Balkan” as well as on Facebook by the account named “B. Cogdell” and the page named “Kosova Today”. What is known is that Thaçi requested conditional release from detention, offering a bail of 50 thousand euros. However, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) has opposed this request of the defense of the former president of the country. And the SPO’s objection is not a final decision. The decisions are made by the court. (here)