Deanda Jushi
On October 20, a roundtable discussion was held on the topic "In Defense of Freedom of Speech: Confronting Hate Language and Discourse in the Albanian Media Landscape; Report 2024".
The meeting focused on the presentation of the report on freedom of speech and hate speech in the media in Albania, for the period January 2024 - June 2025, and was organized with the participation of journalists, politicians, and media and human rights experts.
The main findings of the report were presented by Dorentina Hysa, who emphasized the importance of monitoring hate speech and discrimination in the media. She stated that “This report reflects the situation of hate speech and discrimination in the Albanian media environment through the analysis of the spread, forms, inciting events and severity of this language, based on incidents reported and collected through media reporting.”
96 incidents were analyzed for the preparation of the report. Of these, the most frequent were those based on gender (40.6%), incidents against journalists (12.5%) and against political opponents (12.5%). Hysa noted that gender-based violence continues to be one of the most worrying problems, while attacks on journalists remain widespread and constantly present.
The study highlights that reporting on gender-based violence and sexual exploitation is not always within the framework of professional reporting, but is often used in a sensationalist manner to attract clicks. Victim blaming and sexist language are normalized in public discourse, especially towards women in politics, undermining civic awareness and gender equality.
Jorida Tabaku, a participant in the roundtable and one of the politicians mentioned in the report, shared her personal experience.
"Journalists face attacks every day. The biggest problem is when the attacks come from politicians towards journalists. It is also worrying when they come from politicians towards colleagues. I am afraid when my children will start reading the comments in the media. They should not be normalized," she said.
Compared to the 2022 and 2023 monitoring, the use of hate speech and gender-based discrimination has remained at the same levels, while attacks on journalists and political opponents have increased significantly.
Another important finding of the report is that the visibility of the CJUD increases when it is reproduced verbatim in news headlines or on social media, reaching hundreds of thousands of individuals. The media amplify or ignore the use of this language, say the authors of this report, reinforcing polarization and significantly reducing the possibility of accountability. In a way, the media themselves redistribute hate speech, even if they are not the primary perpetrators.
But Blerjana Bino, director of the Center for Science and Innovation for Development (SciDev), stressed that one should not equate those who use hate speech with those who repost it, when the media specifies that these terms should not be used. She gave examples, such as cases where the Prime Minister has used words like “çyryk, autik, çemiburra”, which have been reflected by the media while distancing themselves from the use of offensive language.
The 2025 Freedom House report ranks Albania as a “partly free” country, noting ongoing challenges in the areas of judicial independence, political pluralism, and the protection of civil liberties. Similarly, Reporters Without Borders ranked Albania 99th in 2024 and 80th in 2025 out of 180 countries, citing political pressure on the media, weaknesses in the implementation of professional ethics by journalists, and increasing threats to investigative journalists. The media monitoring was conducted by Albanian Women in Audiovisual (AWA). acqj.al
