Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
The phenomenon of publishing fake polls continues to appear on social media, where content of this type is published almost every day.
Hibrid.info, since September 13, when the election campaign began, has handled 13 fake polls on mayoral candidates.
Hibrid.info identified a suspicious survey published on TikTok on Tuesday, October 7 for the municipality of Peja with the caption “Everything is turning upside down in Peja.” This graphic claims that the Vetëvendosje Movement and the Democratic League of Kosovo are leading with 35% each, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo with 20%, and the Democratic Party of Kosovo with 10%.
After conducting online research, hibrid.info found that there is no indication that any survey has been conducted recently on the candidates for mayor of Peja. (here)
This TikTok post does not specify which company conducted the survey, while the content does not contain any information on the time or period of its implementation.
A graphic claiming to represent survey conducted on the candidates for mayor of Viti, was posted by a Facebook page called "Gazetaria".
This page claims that in collaboration with a prestigious company, it has published the results of a survey for the Municipality of Viti, conducted from September 15 to October 4, 2025, adding that over 1,200 citizens from the city and villages of the municipality participated in this survey, with a margin of error of ±1%.
Hibrid.info has searched Google with the keywords "Poll for the Municipality of Viti", and the results do not show any credible poll recently published in the media on the candidates for mayor of Viti. (here)
Another thing that makes this poll suspicious is the fact that the "Journalism" page was not active since January 7, only to return on October 7 with the publication of this graphic. (see here)
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, October 8, this site published some data claiming that this survey was conducted through house-to-house interviews and an online form specifically created for this process. However, the site did not indicate which “prestigious company” conducted these measurements nor the online form allegedly used for this survey.
In the “About” section of this page, there is also a link to a website called “gazetaria.com”, but after clicking on it, adult content appears in Chinese. (here)
Another graphic claiming to present poll conducted on the candidates for mayor of Pristina, was found published on Facebook by the page "Lajme Flash", through which it is claimed that the candidate from the PDK, Uran Ismaili, is leading with 37%.
During research about this page, it was noticed that it was inactive from March 6. While it returned with posts on September 23. Another fact about this page is that since October 1, this page has published five posts in support of Uran Ismail. (see here)
After a research conducted by hibrid.info, it was found that there is no recent public survey that measures support for the candidates for mayor of Pristina. (see here)
In addition to the above-mentioned content, hibrid.info has managed to identify 13 fake surveys published by social media accounts and pages since September 13. (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here)
About surveys
A survey is a preliminary research to know a situation, opinions or attitudes about something specific. In this statistical method Results are drawn based on the study of a portion of the population, called a sample.
Based on the institute's article Pew Research (research institute for fact-based surveys and studies), it is clarified what information should be requested about how a survey was conducted.
Who conducted the survey and who sponsored it?
Who was interviewed?
How was the survey conducted?
How were people selected for the survey?
When was the survey conducted?
How many people were interviewed?
Was the survey weighted? If so, how?
Do the survey questions seem neutral and fair?
Analyze:
During October 7–8, hibrid.info identified several graphics published on social media that purport to present survey results for the municipalities of Peja, Viti and Pristina.
A video was shared on TikTok with the caption "Everything is turning upside down in Peja", which presented percentages of political parties, but without any source or company that conducted the survey.
Another case was found on Facebook by the page “Gazetaria”, which published a graphic for the municipality of Viti, claiming collaboration with a “prestigious company”, although it did not provide any evidence for the existence of such a survey. The page had been inactive since January and was revived with the publication of this content, while the link to its website leads to adult content in Chinese.
In the case of Pristina, the website "Lajme Flash" published a graphic claiming that PDK candidate Uran Ismaili was leading with 37%, however, there is no reliable poll that supports this claim.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Fake News".
Reasoning:
The “Fake News” rating is given to informational content that is entirely fabricated or that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be defined as having been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.