SafeJournalists Network’s researcher in Albania, Blerjana Bino, argues in her recent analysis that defamation, smear campaigns, and information manipulation are real and harmful problems in Albania’s public sphere, but the core issue is not whether they should be addressed, but how. She stresses that criminal law is a disproportionate instrument that risks producing a chilling effect on freedom of expression, encouraging self-censorship and limiting reporting in the public interest. Instead, she places decriminalisation within a broader, evidence-based reform agenda that includes stronger civil remedies, anti-SLAPP safeguards, better working conditions for journalists, and greater transparency in media ownership and financing.
In this context, the SafeJournalists Network continues to advocate for approaches grounded in European standards, promoting decriminalisation, proportionality, and safeguards that protect both freedom of expression and professional accountability.
The article further highlights that recent legal amendments in Albania fall short of full decriminalisation and introduce conditional protections that do not align with European human rights standards. Bino warns that such approaches risk reinforcing structural imbalances, where powerful actors are better positioned to use legal tools against journalists, while underlying problems such as political and other undue influence over media and lack of accountability remain unaddressed. Her central argument is that removing criminal defamation is not about reducing accountability, but about ensuring it is applied through more proportionate and effective mechanisms. Read the full analysis at Reporter.al