Today, the head of the Parliamentary Committee on Media, Democrat MP Albana Vokshi, asked the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP) to suspend the decree issued on October 15, demanding online portals to be registered at the National Business Center (QKB) and publish their tax ID number (NIPT) on their websites.
According to the Democrat MP Albana Vokshi, the AKEP’s decision, clearly:
- Oversteps the jurisdiction granted to this institution by the law;
- Violates the freedom of expression and the liberty of the media, guaranteed by article 22 of the Albanian constitution and article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Following Prime Minister Rama’s declarations regarding an “anti-slander packet” targeting journalists and the media, on October 15, AKEP threatened 44 media websites that, unless they register at QKB and publish their NIPT on their page, they would be shut down.
The AKEP’s decision did not contain any references to any laws, and was released without preemptive research on each of the media websites, raising suspicions that AKEP, under the leadership of former Socialist MP Ilir Zela, is being used from Rama.
The list of 44 news sites also included sites that operate in Kosova or other countries, sites register as NGOs and that do not include advertisements like Exit.al or Reporter.al.
