The Albanian legal framework on media freedom is quite solid: freedom of expression and media freedom are guaranteed by the Constitution (Article 22 ), and extensive laws on audio-visual media, access to information, and press laws exist. Despite such legal guarantees, the situation of media freedom in Albania remains alarming.
Journalists are targets of constant threats and many face widespread legal action for libel. Investigative journalists covering crime and corruption are the primary targets of attacks. Media outlets are also subjected to pressure from business houses and the government, and media professionals are often exposed to direct verbal attacks from politicians. All this points towards a hostile environment for media freedom.
Media capture
The Albanian legal framework does not provide comprehensive provisions to ensure the transparency of media ownership. Only broadcasters must register as distinct legal entities, while other media outlets remain outside the scope of ownership transparency obligations.
The Audiovisual Media sector is governed by Law No. 97/2013 which established the Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA). Although such a law requires the AMA to be politically independent, concerns emerged regarding undue political influence in the appointment of its board members. In 2021 a new chairperson, who is a close associate of the ruling Socialist Party, was elected in the absence of opposition lawmakers in the Parliament, a situation that raised concerns about the impartiality and independence of the regulatory body . Shortcomings linked to the AMA’s capacity to enforce laws to limit media ownership concentration have also been noted.
Albania’s crowded media landscape may appear diverse and pluralistic. Yet, a closer look reveals a concentrated media ecosystem with a few family-owned conglomerates sitting at the helm while ownership details continue to remain opaque.
The concentration of ownership is evident in media networks such as Top Media (Hoxha family), Klan group (Frangaj family) or Focus group (Hysenbelliu family) which hold shares in companies operating across the radio, TV, multiplex, and print sectors, as well as in the publishing industry. Cross-media ownership remains a problem, as the AMA has so far failed to introduce adequate regulatory safeguards. According to the Albania Media Ownership Monitor (Global Media Registry & BIRN Albania, 2023) , the nexus between political actors, entrepreneurs, and media owners, whose political and economic interests often align, strongly influences the media market, resulting in censorship and biased content.
Political influence is widespread in the Albanian media sector. In 2024, the area of Political Independence is rated at high risk (75%) by the Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) . According to the MPM there is a lack of regulatory and self-regulatory measures that guarantee freedom from interference in editorial decisions, while the existing safeguards to protect journalists from the interference of the government and politicians are inadequate. While independent media such as BIRN, Citizens Channel and Faktoje are mostly financed by donors , commercial media is mostly funded by politicians or by oligarchs who buy advertising. Political interference mostly takes indirect forms, with the government rewarding those media outlets whose editorial policies are in line with propaganda messages. This approach not only limits editorial freedom, but also pushes many journalists towards self-censorship. The regulatory framework does not provide safeguards for the appointment and dismissals of editors-in-chief who are often dismissed due to political influence or changes of management.
According to media experts, a major problem is the lack of unions or professional organisations committed to ensuring journalists’ rights.
Legal threats
Albanian journalists remain highly exposed to libel lawsuits. While international bodies like the European Commission and the OSCE have often called for decriminalisation, defamation remains a criminal offence punishable by hefty fines (Law no. 7895).
SLAPPs are another frequent phenomenon that undermines democratic values in the country. Current legislation lacks regulatory mechanisms to curb SLAPPs, which are often used to silence critical journalists.. The civil law provisions on fraudulent or inaccurate publications are not aligned with European standards and are used to launch SLAPPs against journalists. The Constitution and the Law on the Right to Information (2014), ensure that people in Albania have the right to access public information. However, media organisations have reported on further concentration of public information in recent years. Moreover, in its 2024 Rule of Law Report, the European Commission expressed increasing concerns that political actors and government, at both local and central levels, feed media with pre-prepared content.
Another issue of concern is the protection of journalistic sources. Legally, journalists have the right to protect their sources and refuse to testify in criminal, civil, and administrative cases. However, in a recent case, in February 2024, the High Court deemed lawful the seizure by the Special Prosecution Office against Organised Crime and Corruption (SPAK) of phones and computers belonging to a journalist who was reporting on an organised crime case under SPAK investigation.
Safety of Journalists
The Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers (No. 60/2016) , the Criminal Code of Albania , the Constitution and Law on Audiovisual Media (No. 97/2013) aim to protect journalists from attacks and threats. Despite this, physical safety and labour conditions for journalists remain poor.
Data gathered by the think tank SCiDEV show that there has been a steady rise in the cases of intimidation and threats against journalists. The threats are mostly online in nature. They go underreported due to fear of retaliation, victimisation, and lack of trust in the effectiveness of institutional or law enforcement follow-up.
Journalists in Albania suffer serious verbal and physical threats by political figures. On 5 October 2023, the General Secretary of the Democratic Party of Albania, Flamur Noka, physically assaulted the Vizion Plus journalist Parid Dado. During the parliamentary session, he hit him with the Assembly's regulation book. This showcases the intense level of hostility that journalists face in their work.
Journalists are often targets of police violence while reporting on demonstrations. The attacks on journalists are of varying nature like physical assault, threats, verbal insults, intimidation by high state officials, and home search.
Other challenges are linked to limited job security, poor working conditions and the lack of effective protections against hate speech and disinformation.
Women journalists are the primary targets of online harassment; according to MPM 2024, gender equality in the media has a high-risk score of 81% . Women journalists are often targeted based on their looks and appearance through sexist language, hate speech, and derogatory comments. Women journalists have reported more misogynistic and threatening remarks over social media platforms, with some comments being outrightly violent or sexual in nature . It is important to have gender disaggregated data and public authorities should promote the creation of special channels for women journalists to report cases of violence or harassment.
In March 2023, the growing perils to journalists' safety in Albania came to the fore when Top Channel, one of the major media outlets in the country, became the target of what it defined as a“terrorist attack ”. Masked gunmen in a car fired between 20 to 25 bullets into the headquarters of the network, based in Tirana. The attack received widespread condemnation and sparked concerns about the potential risks to the mission of a free press.
According to the Western Balkans Journalists Safety Index, the physical attacks against journalists have remained widely uninvestigated and thus unpunished. Often, most of these cases are characterised by delays, inefficiency, or are dismissed eventually. The stagnation in the resolution of such cases undermines the efficiency of law enforcement in addressing violence against journalists.
Lack of media ownership transparency, criminal defamation, SLAPPs filed with alarming regularity, political interference, and growing threats and intimidation hurt journalistic independence and democratic values in Albania. Hence, there is an urgent need to strengthen the protection of journalists and align national laws more closely with European standards to create a more transparent and accountable media environment.
List of references
- "Albania Media Ownership Monitor." Media Ownership Monitor Albania. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://albania.mom-gmr.org/.
- "Media Freedom in Albania: a Shadow Report." Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa, June 28, 2024. [Online]https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/Occasional-paper/Media-Freedom-in-Albania-a-Shadow-Report. Accessed October 8, 2024.
- Albania. "Law no. 97-2013 on the Audiovisual Media in the Republic of Albania." 2013. [Online] Albanian Media Authority. Accessed October 8, 2024.https://ama.gov.al/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Law-no.-97-2013-on-the-Audiovisual-Media-in-the-Republic-of-Albania.pdf.
- Albania. Constitutional Court. "Decision of the Constitutional Court [on the Law no. 97/2013 on the Audiovisual Media in the Republic of Albania] (amended with Law no. 22/2016, dated 10.3.2016, decision of the Constitutional Court no. 56, dated 27.7.2016 and Law no. 91/2017, dated 22.5.2017, no. 30/2023, dated 13.4.2023). 2013. [Online] legislationline.org. Accessed October 8, 2024.https://legislationline.org/sites/default/files/documents/b2/Albania_CC_am2013_en.pdf.
- Albanian Government. "Criminal Code - General Part." 2023. [Online] Ministry of Justice of Albania. Accessed October 8, 2024.https://www.drejtesia.gov.al/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Criminal-Code-General-Part.docx.
- Albanian Government. “Whistleblowers Protection Law.” 2020. Albanian Official Gazette, No. 123.
- Albanian Media Authority. “Audiovisual Media Broadcasting Code.” 2019. [Online] ama.gov.al. Accessed October 8, 2024. https://ama.gov.al/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/AUDIOVISUAL-MEDIA-BROADCASTING-CODE-.pdf
- Balkan Center for Sustainable Development. “96-1-BCSDN-Analysis_Accession-countries-in-EC-RoL-Report.pdf.” August 9, 2024. [Online]. Accessed October 8, 2024.https://balkancsd.net/novo/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/96-1-BCSDN-Analysis_Accession-countries-in-EC-RoL-Report.pdf.
- Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Albania. “Monitoring Media Pluralism in the Digital Era: Application of the Media Pluralism Monitor in the European Member States and Candidate Countries in 2023. Country Report: Albania.” [Online] European University Institute. Accessed October 8, 2024.https://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/76992/Albania_EN_mpm_2024_cmpf.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
- Chiodi Luisa. “Albania: Freedom of the Press Crushed by the Weight of Politics.” Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa, June 28, 2024. [Online]https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Albania/Albania-freedom-of-the-press-crushed-by-the-weight-of-politics-232171.
- Constitution of Albania. [Online] ConstitutionNet. Accessed October 8, 2024.https://constitutionnet.org/sites/default/files/Albania%20Constitution.pdf
- European Commission. "Commission Staff Working Document: 2024 Rule of Law Report - Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Albania." [Online] eur-lex.europa.eu. Accessed October 8, 2024. https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/0154dce1-5026-45de-8b37-e3d56eff7925_en?filename=59_1_58088_coun_chap_albania_al.pdf.
- European Commission. Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations. "Albania Report 2020." [Online] eur-lex.europa.eu. Accessed October 8, 2024.https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/document/download/3ec7d672-3faf-447d-a2e7-862682d8f709_en?filename=albania_report_2020.pdf.
- Institute for Media in Albania. "[Online] institutemedia.org." Accessed October 8, 2024.
- International Press Institute. “Albania: Concern After Government Ally Elected to Head Key Media Regulator.” [Online] ipi.media. Accessed October 8, 2024.https://ipi.media/albania-concern-after-government-ally-elected-to-head-key-media-regulator/.
- Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. "Media Freedom in Albania." Balkanmedia. Last modified May 11, 2020.https://www.kas.de/en/web/balkanmedia/media-freedom.
- Likmeta Besar, and Kristina Voko. "MONITORING MEDIA PLURALISM IN THE DIGITAL ERA: APPLICATION OF THE MEDIA PLURALISM MONITOR IN THE EUROPEAN MEMBER STATES AND CANDIDATE COUNTRIES IN 2023. Country report: Albania." Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Albania, 2023.
- Monitoring Association for the Protection of Freedom of Expression (MAPMF), "Alert,"https://www.mappingmediafreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/MR-2024-Final-Draft-Pages.pdf. Accessed October 8, 2024.
- Republic of Albania. "Law no. 97/2013 on the Audiovisual Media in the Republic of Albania (amended with Law no. 22/2016, dated 10.3.2016, decision of the Constitutional Court no. 56, dated 27.7.2016 and Law no. 91/ 2017, dated 22.5.2017, no. 30/2023, dated 13.4.2023)." 2013.
- RTI International. "Albania.pdf." [Online] rti-rating.org. Accessed October 8, 2024.https://www.rti-rating.org/wp-content/uploads/Albania.pdf.
- SciDev.Net. "SciDev Statement Regarding the Special Parliamentary Committee on Disinformation." April 5, 2024. [Online] scidevcenter.org. Accessed October 8, 2024.https://scidevcenter.org/2024/04/05/scidev-statement-regarding-the-special-parliamentary-committee-on-disinformation/.
- "Top Channel Statement on the Terrorist Attack." Top Channel. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://top-channel.tv/english/top-channel-statement-on-the-terrorist-attack/.