FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
"Greek Sazani", "Epstein's Island"/ The disinformation machine launches an attack against Albania
The protest for Zvërnec is gradually spreading beyond Albania's borders, but not always accompanied by the real facts that have prompted it. While on the ground most of the calls focus on the government, tourism projects and the political class as a whole, narratives that have little connection to the reality of the protest are circulating on international social networks.
A large part of the foreign media and influential profiles on social networks are presenting the protest as a revolt against Jared Kushner and the Trump family. But this is only a small part of the story. On the ground, most of the banners and slogans have not been against Kushner, but against the government and the political class as a whole. Among the most heard slogans have been “Rama in prison” and “Berisha in prison”, which clearly shows that the protest has taken on a much broader political dimension than what is being sold in the international media.
In parallel with this distortion, accounts linked to Russian propaganda have begun constructing narratives aimed at creating an international scandal. In one of the most shared posts on the “X” platform, the Sazan project is compared to Jeffrey Epstein’s island.
" You should pay attention to Albania right now. What's happening there is that Prime Minister Edi Rama has sold protected natural areas and the only island to Jared Kushner to make this giant resort. An island like Jeffrey Epstein's, they're doing this on the island of Sazan ," the post says.
In another case, the narrative becomes even more extreme. “ So Trump’s son-in-law, Kushner, and his friend Nat Rothschild bought the Greek island of Sazan to turn it into a new Epstein Island? ” reads another post circulating online.
But the attack doesn't just come from accounts promoting pro-Russian narratives. Greek nationalist pages have gone even further, attempting to present Zvernec and Sazan as Greek territories and reviving historical claims that have nothing to do with the current debate over tourism projects.
" Svrnica is an exceptionally beautiful Greek village in the Vlora region. The Albanian government, together with the Trump family, is seizing the homes of Northern Epirotes in this area ," writes one of these pages.
While other posts claim that Sazani is a "Greek island" and even mention stories about alleged massacres of 1914, turning an environmental and economic debate into a nationalist issue.
This wave of disinformation has also included a part of the foreign media, which are reporting the protests almost exclusively as a revolt against Jared Kushner's project, ignoring the fact that the protesters are articulating much broader criticism of the government and the opposition. In many reports, the debate about Zvërnec is deliberately complicated with American political developments and the figure of Donald Trump, making the issue more attractive to the international public, but less accurate. Also, almost all of them confuse Zvërnec with Sazan. The protests are not about Sazan, as international media from CNN, Reuters, Guardian, Al Jazeera, etc. write.
So, a real protest, with citizen participation and concrete concerns, is used as a platform to inject new narratives, conspiracy theories, and historical claims that have no connection to the facts on the ground.
The situation is made even more problematic by the increasing use of artificial intelligence. In recent days, images, montages and visual materials have been circulating that aim to create certain perceptions about the protest and tourism projects. The phenomenon of photos and videos created or manipulated with AI is becoming one of the main weapons of modern disinformation, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between reality and propaganda.
What is happening with Zvërnec and Sazan is a clear example of how an internal Albanian debate can quickly turn into an international information battlefield. From theories about “Epstein’s Island”, to claims that Sazan is Greek territory, to the distortion of the very object of the protest, the war for the narrative is taking place in full intensity. And in this war, the facts are often the first victim. / Pamphlet
O Shqiperis nënë! Permirëso kirrikiëat shkollore. Mësoni fëmijëve se si duhet kombi dhe atedheu! Bëjeni kete se shkuat ne shkatërrim! Si ka mundësi qe vijnë nga Greqia migrantet e bejne lëmsh shtetin e tyre? Si ka mundësi qe atje behen vasal, per lek e makina luksi jane ne gjendje te ndërrojnë emer e mbiemër, mohojnë rrënjët e tyre shqiptare, mohojnë printerit e gjyshërit e tyre. E mbani mend Zani Çaushin kriminelin, Greqia e nxori nga burgu dhe e shkarkroj ne Shqiperi ku u be komandant. Dilte Zani para medieve, "po luftojmë per te drejtat e Vorio Epirit" thoshte ai krimi el i damkosur, gjak i mallkuar!
Le te thone cte duan te huajt, pankartat dhe populli flasin carte, JANE KUNDER KASTET POLITIKE HAJDUTE dhe per kete duhet te cohen te gjithe, Vlore Korce , Fier Shkoder, Lezhe Gjirokaster Kukes te tere qe te behet ndryshimi. Nqs doni hajduta ne krye rrini e mos flisni me.