History of Censorship in Albania

DESCRIPTION: Balkan nation bordered by Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Greece, and the Adriatic and Ionian seas.

SIGNIFICANCE: Albania has a long history of government censorship under a succession of authoritarian regimes.

Albanian political opinion and cultural expression was systematically suppressed under Ottoman and Greek rule. In 1879, the Society for the Printing of Albanian Writings was organized, an alphabet adopted, and book and newspaper publication followed, mostly in foreign countries. In the autumn of 1885, the Porte authorized teaching Albanian, a reform largely frustrated in Muslim and Orthodox schools.

From its independence in 1912, Albania was in constant turmoil until 1925, when the government of Ahmet Zogu, later King Zog, took control. Zog dissolved opposing political and cultural organizations and either imprisoned active opponents or drove them into exile. Press freedom was curtailed, and private correspondence was censored. In 1939, Italy annexed Albania, which remained under Italian and, briefly, German control until 1944.

From 1944 until 1985 Albania was ruled under the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. Ramiz Alia succeeded Hoxha after his death. All publishing, broadcasting, schools, and cultural enterprises were in the hands of the state. Rigid censorship extending to private conversations was enforced by the secret police (Sigurimi). Citizens conversing with foreigners were subject to arrest and imprisonment.

In 1974, the communists began denouncing families possessing television antennae capable of receiving Italian or Yugoslav broadcasts. Thousands of political opponents, dissidents, and members of ethnic minorities died in prisons, labor camps, and internment camps. Foreign travel was stringently restricted. Ordinary Albanians who had left the country were denied return. Works of authors falling from governmental acceptance were collected and destroyed, including works in technical journal articles. In 1967, religion was banned, almost all places of worship were closed, and clergy were imprisoned, executed, or “retrained.” In spite of this, Ismail Kadare wrote and published novels of a quality making him a serious candidate for the Nobel Prize. By using metaphor and ironic flattery, Kadare avoided total suppression, but was heavily attacked for ignoring stylistic “Socialist Realism.”

The dictatorship began to relax after Hoxha’s death in 1985. In 1990, his successor, Ramiz Alia, ended the bans on religion and foreign travel, while Albania later adopted a democratic constitution by referendum in 1998. In March 1991, Alia was forced to hold elections, which he won. By September 1991, eight newspapers representing as many political parties appeared and the circulation of Zëri i Popullit, the Communist (later Socialist) Party paper, dropped by two-thirds. Continuing protests and demonstrations forced another election in early 1992, resulting in a democratic regime under Sali Berisha.

Artistic style was no longer censored. By 1994, a gallery devoted to contemporary Tirana artists and writers opened. Official censorship, however, remained. During the mid-1990s, Albanian authorities continued using legal restrictions that made those who “insult the high personalities of state” subject to imprisonment. In 1994, the British Broadcasting Corporation lost access to a medium-wave transmitter, had frequency modulation (FM) service threatened, and had correspondents harassed by agents of SHIK, Albania’s intelligence service, for coverage of a corruption trial. Also, Aleksander Frangaj, the editor of Koha Jonë, was tried, but acquitted, for publishing official secrets. One of his staff received an eighteen-month jail sentence, and the judge was arrested. An appeals court gave Frangaj a five-month sentence. Frangaj fled to Greece. During late 1993 and 1994, twenty-two critics of the regime, former communist officials and Greek minority leaders, were imprisoned.

In the twenty-first century, freedom of speech and of the press are legally guaranteed in Albania, but in practice the government holds a strong influence over many media outlets, and truly independent media face pressure from tax authorities and a lack of government sponsorship in a country that is already struggling economically. This fosters a culture of self-censorship in Albanian news media.

In 2019, Albania approved controversial legislation aimed at anti-defamation. The proposed laws would have expanded the authority of Albania’s Audiovisual Media Authority over online media outlets and allowed administrative penalties without prior court approval. International organizations criticized the proposals, and the government later moved to withdraw them. In 2020, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe stated that the proposed legislation lacked sufficient protections for freedom of expression and required substantial revision.

Freedom House reports on political rights and civil liberties have classified Albania as “partly free,” while international monitoring organizations have identified political influence, concentrated media ownership, and economic pressure as continuing challenges for independent journalism.

Bibliography

“Albania: Freedom in the World 2025.” Freedom House, freedomhouse.org/country/albania/freedom-world/2025. Accessed 6 May 2026.

“Albania.” Reporters Without Borders, rsf.org/en/country/albania. Accessed 6 May 2026.

Dunham, Jennifer, et al. Freedom of the Press 2015: Harsh Laws and Violence Drive Global Decline. Freedom House, 2015.

Fischer, Bernd J., and Oliver Jens Schmitt. A Concise History of Albania. Cambridge University Press, 2022.

Godole, Jonila. “The Decline of Independent Albanian Media.” European Journalism Observatory, 11 Oct. 2012, Web. 1 May 2025.

Jones, Derek, editor. Censorship: A World Encyclopedia. Routledge, 2015.

Kostreci, Keida. “Albania Approves Controversial Anti-Defamation Laws.” Voice of America, 18 Dec. 2019, www.voanews.com/a/press-freedom_albania-approves-controversial-anti-defamation-laws/6181310.html. Accessed 6 May 2026.

“Venice Commission Adopts Opinions on the Law on Audio Visual Media Services and on the Appointment of Judges to the Constitutional Court.” Council of Europe, 19 June 2020, www.coe.int/en/web/tirana/-/venice-commission-adopts-opinions-on-the-law-on-audio-visual-media-services-and-on-the-appointment-of-judges-to-the-constitutional-court. Accessed 6 May 2026.