Kosovo in numbers
Infokus
Media Environment
The Index reveals that the Media Landscape is vulnerable to disinformation and foreign malign influence, scoring 55/100, the fourth most vulnerable among the five Index domains. Media landscape assesses media freedom, prevalence/ availability of disinformation to the public, capacity to manage foreign mis/disinformation, and public resiliency to mis/disinformation.
Media Environment
All four indicators covered in this pillar show increased vulnerability compared to the assessment in 2022, in the 1st edition of the INDEX. Prevalence/availability of disinformation to the public and capacity to manage foreign mis/disinformation are the most vulnerable indicators. This showcases that disinformation is perceived as prevalent in social media, private and public media, with particularly weak institutional capacities to manage these threats, among these actors but also the government. Due to the presence of two factchecking partners in Kosovo , Facebook can be considered more effective in controlling disinformation compared to previous years. Yet, the current factcheck partners are not enough considering the high intensity of mis/disinformation circulating on the platform. Moreover, public resiliency to mis/disinformation remains low and weak, while citizens do not factcheck. At the same time, particularly at high risk to disinformation are Kosovo-Serb citizens who read and believe more Serbian sponsored news portal; while the latter engages in wide spreading disinformation on various topics. Overall, the education system has not undergone any reforms like the introduction of a media literacy/critical thinking course in primary/secondary education, contributing to low/weak individual resiliency to mis/disinformation, despite continuous requests from civil society organizations. Similar to two years before, the least vulnerable indicator remains media freedom scoring 32/100. This suggests that, despite potential challenges and vulnerabilities in other areas, media freedom in Kosovo has remained relatively resilient or less prone to external influences or manipulation over the two-year period.
Political Landscape
Indeksi zbulon se peizazhi politik është i cenueshëm ndaj dezinformimit dhe ndikimit malinj të huaj, me rezultatin 56/100, duke dalë domeni i tretë më i cenueshëm ndër pesë domenet e Indeksit. Kjo shtyllë përfshin qëndrimet dhe sjelljet e udhëheqësve politikë, kredibilitetin institucional, cenueshmërinë gjatë politikës së përditshme/zgjedhjeve, si dhe kapacitetin institucional për të menaxhuar dezinformimin e huaj.
Political Landscape
Institutional capacity to manage foreign disinformation is the most vulnerable indicator in this domain. Despite efforts by the Kosovo government to enhance institutional capacity in this area, such as implementing the Law on Cyber Security and establishing the National Training Center on Cyber Security, there still exists a notable deficiency in administrative capabilities to effectively combat cyber threats. The Law on Cyber Security foresees the establishment of the Agency on Cybersecurity; though, it has still not been established. Thus far, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has one department responsible for cyber security and system administration, titled department on cyber security and system administration. Similar to the results of the 1st edition of the Vulnerability Index published in 2022, disinformation narratives during elections and everyday politics remain common practices. This includes exploitation of the societal rifts and polarization through digital content. Some of the most polarized issues in Kosovo include the Normalization Dialogue with Serbia, the Association of Kosovo Serb-majority Municipalities, and the use of misogynistic language, especially during electoral periods. It is important to highlight that different from other neighboring countries like North Macedonia where disinformation during elections is focused more on inter-ethnic relations and is sponsored from foreign malign actors, in Kosovo disinformation narratives during elections are mainly domestically driven. Furthermore, political leaders' attitudes and behaviors are more vulnerable to influence, scoring 59 out of 100, compared to institutional credibility, which scored 40 out of 100, marking a difference of 19 points. This indicates that political leaders’ actions and stances are more prone to being affected or manipulated compared to the trustworthiness of institutions. It is important to highlight attitudes and behaviors of political leaders’ vulnerability has increased from 35 (1st Index 2022) to 59 in this INDEX, showcasing a significance increase in vulnerability towards disinformation and foreign malign influence. One of the explanatory variables to this is the government uncoordinated actions with the West, in particular those related to North of Kosovo.
Public Perception
Indeksi zbulon se peizazhi publik është i cenueshëm ndaj dezinformimit dhe ndikimit malinj të huaj, me rezultatin 45/100 pikë, por që është domeni më së paku i cenueshëm ndër pesë domenet e Indeksit. Në këtë domen përfshihen pikëpamjet e popullatës kosovare në lidhje me NATO-n, SHBA-në, BE-në, Kinën dhe Rusia-në, besimi në teoritë e konspiracionit dhe në dezinformim, perceptimet e demokracisë, dhe besimi në institucionet.
Public Perception
Likewise, in the first INDEX assessment, public landscape remains the least vulnerable pillar achieving a score of 45/100. The domain on the view of the Kosovar population regarding NATO, US, EU, and China, remains the least vulnerable indicator throughout all five pillars. However, the data reveal major differences in views among ethnicities in Kosovo's population, with Kosovo Albanian citizens viewing more favorably NATO, US, EU, while Kosovo Serb citizens view less favorably Western powers with positive opinion towards Russia and China. Regarding beliefs in conspiracy theories and disinformation, no significant differences are evident based on age and gender. However, substantial disparities emerge among ethnicities concerning these conspiracy theories. For instance, according to NDI polls, 55% of Kosovo Serb citizens subscribe to the conspiracy theory attributing blame to NATO and the EU for tensions in northern Kosovo, in contrast to only 16% of Kosovo Albanian citizens who hold such beliefs. The key factor influencing these and related conspiracy theory views is the large number of Kosovo Serbs read and believe news portals like Sputnik, sponsored by Serbia. Moreover, institutional trust scores 54/100, covering citizen confidence in seven major public institutions: Government, President, Media, Judiciary, Police, Kosovo Security Forces, and Political Parties. Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs hold significantly different views towards Kosovo Security Forces and Police, with the latter showing lower trust levels and heightened vulnerability to disinformation and foreign malign influence. This can be largely explained due to continuous disinformation in Serbian owned media about police operations in North Mitrovica as ethnic cleansing operations and operations against Kosovo Serbs, while these police operations are purely aimed at preventing and fighting corruption and organized crime.
Inter-Ethnic Relations
The Index reveals that the Inter-ethnic relations landscape is more vulnerable to disinformation and foreign malign influence, scoring 69/100, the most vulnerable among the five index pillars. This pillar assess Kosovo-Serbia relations, inter-ethnic tensions, and targeted foreign disinformation.
Inter-Ethnic Relations
The foreign malign influence in inter-ethnic relations poses a significant challenge, given that Serbia, and to a degree Russia, count on the loyalty of the Serb community to challenge Kosovo’s consolidation as a member of the international community of states. It is no surprise that while the vulnerability to disinformation in politics and media has increased since the last report, the vulnerability in the field of inter-ethnic relations is significantly higher. The INDEX revealed that Kosovo's inter-ethnic relations represent the most vulnerable indicator, with gender-based disinformation following closely behind, this also represents the level of salience of Kosovo’s internal divisions. It also corresponds to Belgrade’s growingly enemy vocabulary vis-à-vis Kosovo. It is a major challenge that during this period, the dialogue with Serbia has achieved success (in the form of an agreement reached in early 2023) but also crisis that ensued afterwards. As the Government of Kosovo intensified its efforts to consolidate sovereignty in the northern part of the country, the cutting of the presence of Serbia’s parallel and illegal presence inside Kosovo has also increased the mistrust vis-à-vis the Serbian community.
Gender-Based Disinformation
The Index reveals that the Gender based Disinformation Landscape is vulnerable to disinformation and foreign malign influence, scoring 58.6/100, the second most vulnerable among the five Index domains. This pillar assesses attitudes towards women in politics, women and digital literacy, and assessment of technology facilitated violence against women.
Gender-Based Disinformation
One major challenge remains the lack of adequate national legislation that directly combats and punishes technology facilitated violence against women including gender-based disinformation. In this context, gender-based disinformation involves the deliberate spread of disinformation targeting women due to their gender. The most recent case is the “Albkings” group, a platform in Telegram social network, that intimidated and shared intimate photos and phone numbers of women and girls. Moreover, citizen attitudes towards women in politics are less vulnerable compared to the assessment of legislation. However, a significant gap is revealed between the individual readiness to elect women and the belief that other citizens are ready to elect women. These perceptions suggest that women candidates appear unelectable. In particular, Index data shows that 80% of citizens have declared that they are ready to elect women; though, they think that only 20% of other citizens are ready to elect women. Women and digital literacy scores 57/100 showcasing vulnerability towards disinformation and foreign malign influence. On average, women have moderate tendencies to believe in conspiracy theories. Index data shows that they also perceive themselves as not enough confident in recognizing what is advertising and what is not, and on how to identify emails or messages in social media that contain suspicious links and addresses or names that they do not know.