Online safety & content laws in Albania (2026)

A 2023 amendment to the Audiovisual Media Act extended the Audiovisual Media Authority's (AMA) mandate to video-sharing platforms, requiring them to take measures against harmful content, protect minors, and prevent hate speech and incitement to violence under Article 32/1.

Following the stabbing death of a 14-year-old in November 2024, the government banned TikTok by executive decision effective 13 March 2025. The ban was widely flouted via VPNs and was formally lifted by Decision No. 62 on 3 February 2026, with no substantive regulatory framework produced during the ban period.

Roughly one-third of EU Digital Services Act obligations are partially reflected in Albania's Law on Electronic Commerce and Law on Electronic Communications (No. 54/2024), covering intermediary-service liability and basic transparency, but gaps remain in complaint-handling systems and advertising disclosure rules.

The Albanian government committed to completing the policy-impact assessment for DSA transposition by June 2025 and adopting the necessary legal amendments by end of 2026, as part of EU accession obligations under Cluster 3 screening.

In October 2025, civil society organisation CRCA/ECPAT Albania proposed a first-of-its-kind draft law for child protection in the digital space, modelled on the UK Online Safety Act and EU DSA, requiring age verification, parental controls, and privacy-by-default; as of May 2026 the law had not been enacted.

Albania has no enacted statute equivalent to the EU Digital Services Act or UK Online Safety Act. The Institute for Democracy and Mediation and the EU Commission's 2025 Rule of Law Report both note that online platforms remain substantially unregulated outside the VSP provisions and e-commerce liability rules.