ANB and MoI computer-crime unit probe origin of false claims about Skopje water
Authorities are tracing online origins and checking health staff after tests showed the city's water is safe.
Security services in North Macedonia are investigating where and how false claims that Skopje's water supply was contaminated began circulating online, officials said.
The Agency for National Security (ANB) together with the Ministry of Interior's Sector for Computer Crime are tracing the initial sources of the posts and messages, and are collecting electronic evidence to map how the narrative spread across social media.
Checks extend to health institutions
Authorities said they are also checking several healthcare institutions after individual medical workers were named in the rumours as the original sources of the contamination claims. Investigators aim to verify whether those mentions were based on real reports or were fabricated to lend credibility to the disinformation.
Multiple laboratory analyses of the Skopje water supply have returned results confirming the water is usable and not contaminated, the agencies reported.
Skopje Mayor Orce Gjorgjievski, speaking at a press conference, called the campaign "this is an organized action to spread hysteria that is tantamount to a terrorist attack." City officials added that all social media profiles involved in spreading the false claims will be handed over to the investigation.
Byline: Miomir Serafinović
Photo: press material from the event
