Albania’s Audiovisual Media Authority takes action against harmful content on TikTok
Mere hour after the announcement last Thursday by the head of the Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA), Armela Krasniqi, on the initiation of collaboration with TikTok against harmful content, dozens of reports have already been submitted. Within five days of the launch of the collaboration and of a dedicated link on AMA’s official website where the public can report harmful content, the first results have emerged.
Why is this significant
This initiative comes amidst growing global scrutiny of TikTok for hosting harmful content. Countries worldwide have been increasing pressure on social media platforms to implement stricter content moderation policies. By establishing a direct line for citizens to report inappropriate content, the AMA is taking a proactive stance in safeguarding public safety and protecting users from harmful material on the platform.
Context
According to Krasniqi, the reported content includes violence, hate speech, child abuse, and violations of fundamental rights. Krasniqi shared on her official social media channels that in just five days, AMA received 85 complaints. After being reviewed by AMA’s legal teams and the Complaints Council, 40 of these complaints were reported to TikTok for violating the law. Of these, 23 videos have been removed from the platform, and 17 are currently under review.
The data published by Krasniqi indicates the following:
- 7 videos exposed children to pornography, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and violence.
- 5 videos contained content that incited violence and hatred or depicted criminal acts.
- 4 videos showed acts of violence.
- 1 video contained religious hatred.
- 1 video contained hate speech due to sexual orientation.
What stands out from the data published by the AMA Chairwoman is the number of piracy cases that appear to have circulated freely on TikTok until now. In the same five-day period, 156 videos were reported for audiovisual product piracy, of which 112 were removed from the platform, and 20 profiles were immediately closed for the same reason after the videos they contained were reported.
“We did not anticipate such a high volume of reports,” Krasniqi wrote. “I am grateful to the citizens who have reported, demonstrating high public sensitivity and trust.”
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