Extremists share news about a non-existent village

The Slovak Spectator brings the selection of hoaxes that appeared on the internet in Slovak language over the past two weeks.

Facebook groups controlled by ĽSNS and its supporters spread allegations of nepotism in the administration of a village that does not exist.Facebook groups controlled by ĽSNS and its supporters spread allegations of nepotism in the administration of a village that does not exist. (Source: Ingrid Ďurinová)

Soros threatening he will stop Brexit is a hoax

Billionaire and globalist George Soros promised the British public that he will overturn the Brexit decision in a few years and suggested that he means to force the government to annul the result of the Brexit referendum, reads an article published by the Svobodné Noviny Czech news website.

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The article was also posted on the Facebook page Secret Truth and Official Lies, from which dozens of people re-shared it.

Soros is a favourite among “alternative news” writers, but most of the claims linked to his name are pure hoaxes, including the article claiming that Soros may force the British government to back off from Brexit.

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The article does not state any source that could verify the alleged statement of Soros. A statement that Soros does not agree with Brexit does exist, but it has been twisted in the report on Svobodné Noviny. The British daily The Independent quoted a letter from Soros to the British media in which he wrote that the UK is approaching a “tipping point” and may want to reverse its decision to leave.

Read also: The Sme daily starts a hunt for hoaxes Read more 

“The divorce process would take at least five years to complete, and during that time new elections would take place,” Soros said, as quoted by the Independent. “If all went well, the two parties may want to remarry even before they have divorced.”

Warning by Egyptian professor is a hoax

At the end of June, a statement on hatred that Muslims feel toward the Western lifestyle was supposedly posted by an Egyptian professor.

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“Muslims living in the Middle East and in Africa believe that those living in the West are the worst generation living in this world,” states the user known as professor Bassim Salah El-Shafy. “You Europeans have created a culture that is so pathetic and wrong that it has no chance to survive. Your new virtues are homosexuality, alcohol, and drugs.”

The text also states that Muslims will have Europe under their control in a few years, Islam will become the only acceptable culture and all European literature and architecture will be damaged.

This statement appeared on several Facebook groups in Slovak and provoked a passionate discussion. Hundreds of users have re-shared it.

However, the name of the alleged professor does not return any results when searched in Google. It only corresponds with the Facebook statement.

The text is accompanied by a picture of the alleged professor, but the Google images search shows that it is a stolen picture of Dr. Shereif El-Sheikh, a Harvard graduate who currently works at Boston University.

There is also no source provided in the text, and it is only intended to provoke a fear of foreigners and of other cultures in general.

Putin warns from new world order is a hoax

The influx of migrants is the result of the so-called new world order of a globalist conspiracy, Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly said in a speech to citizens of the western countries in an attempt to “open their eyes”.

“My European brothers and sisters must overthrow the globalist politics of open borders that has been forced upon them by the elites,” Putin allegedly said.

This piece was published at the end of May by the Czech website Lajkit.cz. It had 7,000 likes and shares on Facebook, while the piece had some 50,000 likes on its original site.

There is no mention of when or where Putin made the statement. The Yournewswire website is among a list of conspiracy websites.

Extremists got caught by a hoax about a non-existent village

There is no village in Slovakia called Nižná Poruba, but hundreds of fans of extremist Marian Kotleba did not seem to mind. On July 7, Facebook groups controlled by ĽSNS and its supporters started spreading a picture that allegedly revealed nepotism in the administration of Nižná Poruba.

The picture depicted what the Facebook poster said was a Roma mayor who has replaced the employees of the municipal office with his wife and brothers.

There were more than 300 reactions to the picture: 200 comments and over 100 shares.

The picture was created by the administrator of a Facebook page that shares the humorous or ridiculous Facebook posts of voters of Marian Kotleba. The administrator has created a fake profile with a picture similar to that used by the voters of Kotleba.

He edited a original picture of Kotleba and his employees, which was intended to illustrate the nepotism practices in the office of the Banská Bystrica Region, and replaced the faces of Kotleba and his family with the faces of Roma.

Most people who shared the picture did not notice that the village did not exist or see the similarity between the supposed nepotism in Nižná Poruba and that of the office of Kotleba. The comments show that extremists do not check the material they share and are willing to take every opportunity to become angry with minorities or corruption. But they seem less willing to notice it when it happens among themselves.

Read also: Extremists thrive on Facebook, despite recent shut-downs Read more 

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Stock image.

Twice as many Ukrainians work in Slovakia now than before the Russian invasion.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


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