Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 19/11/2021
The Montenegrin Orthodox Church (MOC) and its Metropolitan Mihailo Dedeic have long been under attack by Serbian tabloids, which “christen” the church as unrecognized and call Mihailo “the one who has left the priestly vocation”. In the same spirit is the recent publication of a website Alo.rs, which used the fake profile of the MOC’s Metropolitan to discredit the MOC’s worshippers.
THE ONE WHO HAS LEFT THE PRIESTLY VOCATION, DEDEIC, MARRIED RAJKO AND ZARKO” A published photo from Cetinje caused a storm in public”, is the title of the text on alo.rs which states that Mihailo married a gay couple.
The news was also published in the Facebook group Pleme Kuci Drekalovici, which has 3,700 members, as well as on another Facebook profile.
Furthermore, website 24sedam.rs published the mentioned news, and it was also found on the following websites: jajce-online, atvbl, bl-portal, prijedor24, and banjaluka.net. Websites aloonline.ba and etrebinje have deleted their posts in the meantime.
“In the canonically recognized Orthodox churches, marriage as a sacred secret is the coexistence of man and woman, so the practice introduced by the MOC is contrary to all canons”, notes this website.
However, this is incorrect news published on the fake profile of Metropolitan Mihailo, about which raskrinkavanje has already written before.
In the announcement that the tabloids used to place this information, which comes from a fake profile, the fake Mihailo also wrote the following:
Today I married the newlyweds in Cetinje. I wish Rajko and Zarko from Cetinje all the best in their life together. Subhanallah.
The news on which the regional media quickly “hooked” was soon shared on a fake Facebook profile that carries the name of the head of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church.
We have already had the opportunity to ensure that the mentioned profile spreads fake news, including photoshopped photos. There is no doubt that the same thing happened when a photo of two young men with the Metropolitan of the MOC was misused to place a story about allegedly gay marriage.
What is new is that the Facebook post was used by numerous media this time, placing it as news without prior verification.
Having in mind the stated facts, the post from the fake Facebook profile called Mihailo Miras Dedeic is rated as fake news.
The “fake news” rating is given to the original media report (entirely produced by the media that published it) that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is assessed as fake news can be reliably established to have been created and disseminated to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as a fact.
On the other hand, websites Alo, 24sedam, jajce-online, atvbl, aloonline.ba, bl-portal, prijedor24, banjaluka.net, and etrebinje are rated for distribution of fake news.
This rating is given to media reports in which another medium’s original content is shared and contains fake news. The rating is given only for the distribution of content categorized as fake news. Transmitting content that has been given other negative ratings is treated the same way as creating such content.
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Edit: November 23, 2021
Website Alo published a correction in its original text, clearly using the ethical standard of professional conduct of journalists and denying the allegations, so we rate it as “refuted”. The rating “refuted” is given in cases when the media determines that the content falls under one of the negative reviews described above and refutes it clearly and visibly, following the principles of refuting.
