EU Cautions Albania Against Restricting Online Media

EU ambassador Luigi Soreca said on Monday evening that the controversial proposed law to regulate online media, which is currently going through parliament, is too severe and should be rethought.

"When it comes to tackling disinformation, while we share the Albanian authorities' concerns with regard to disinformation, the [European] Commission recommends approaches that are less severe, based on a self-regulation approach," Soreca said at a ceremony for the European Union Awards for Investigative Journalism in Tirana.

"The European Commission shares the concerns of other international organisations related to the lack of legal certainty and to the widening of the scope of competence of the [Albanian] Audiovisual Media Authority to include online media regulation, as this may lead to adverse effect on freedom of expression," he added.

The government of Prime Minister Edi Rama has claimed that the country needs such anti-defamation legislation to "discipline" online media in order "to improve the quality of the information and public discourse".

The draft law creates an administrative control over online media through a body named the Complaints Council with power to oblige electronic publications service providers to publish an apology, remove content or insert a pop-up notice if they are found to have violated provisions on dignity and privacy.

This council has the power to fine media up to 8,300 euros for such violations. A second law subjects online media to the Telecommunication and Postal Authority, AKEP, which will have the power to insert pop-ups on websites if they have been found in breach of the law by the Complaints Council. Failure to comply with the AKEP's demands would result in fines up to 830,000 euros.

Rama has...

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