BIRN reveals dozens of fake accounts that amplify Rama’s messages

Immediately after Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Friday speech to the socialist parliamentary group, a wide network of fake profiles shared it en masse. BIRN has established that these accounts were created in recent months and activated precisely at the moment when the head of government expressed concern about algorithms and external influences, which, according to him, had fuelled and expanded the 55-day-plus protest demanding his resignation.

From hundreds of shares of the Facebook post, BIRN identified more than 25 fake identities, alongside majority MPs, mayors, and employees of state and local administration.

During his address, Rama categorized the protesters as “flamingos” and “crows,” stressing again that the movement was driven from beyond the borders, thanks to the distortion of social networks. According to him: “The flamingo gave the mesmerizing symbol, the shadow of the world’s most famous father-in-law gave the global magnet, and the algorithm, agitated also by masters of interference in other countries’ affairs, did the rest.”

At the same time, the head of the executive declared that a storm of inauthentic profiles had been set in motion through the digital cloud, claiming that “we have identified them.”

For weeks, Rama has complained about social platforms’ mechanisms and the opposition’s fake accounts, but BIRN’s verification showed that hundreds of such identities were also created at the end of June by ruling-party supporters.

These profiles not only amplify the prime minister’s and cabinet members’ messages but have also been involved in organized attack campaigns against those supporting the protest.

The investigation identified over 100 fake Facebook and Instagram accounts, generated between June 28 and 30, as well as others in July. Most of them were uncovered by carefully monitoring who forwarded Rama’s posts on social networks.

They make no effort to hide their political leaning, choosing as identifying names city references and direct links to the Socialist Party, for example “Edi Rama per Shqiperine 2030,” “kolonjasot2030” or “Bulqiza e së Ardhmes 2030.” Despite the different titles, these accounts convey the same propaganda material.

Thanks to collected data, BIRN was able to verify the participation of these fictitious actors also in the distribution of the prime minister’s latest speech. Among the easily distinguishable pseudonyms are “Black Arrow,” “Bulqiza that walks,” “Flamingos Durres,” as well as a series of names that do not actually belong to real persons.