Former Democratic Party Minister, Genc Pollo has written to the German Ambassador to Albania, Peter Zingaf to ‘curb’ the censorship of news by Acromax Gmbh.
Acromax, a business registered in Hamburg Germany was the subject of an Exit investigation that got international attention. The company who told Exit that the Socialist Party were clients, before changing their mind a few months later, blocks videos of official government statements, published online by the media or other citizens.
Alleging copyright infringement despite the clips being in line with copyright best practices, these clips are often controversial or implicated the officials in corruption, propaganda, or lying, at a later stage.
Pollo writes: “in the best European and international practice, excerpts from interviews with politicians due to the need for democratic confrontation are considered public domain.”
He adds that complaints about Acromax have been circulating for some years as they are unjustifiably blocking critical videos of the Socialist Party and even German portals and blogs that defend media freedom. Some Albanian Facebook users who are critical of the government have even found their personal Facebook pages shut down completely.
“I would urge you, together with the German authorities to consider what can be done so that the last oasis of freedom of thought and media in our country is not further restricted by Acromax.”
Following Exit’s investigation, owner of Acromax Aldor Nini threatened to sue Exit for defamation in German courts, otherwise known as a SLAPP, despite Exit publishing the screenshots of his admissions. No lawsuit has been forthcoming to date.
