Authors: Elsa Kotorri and Klesjana Omeri
In the most recent parliamentary elections in Albania, due to the restrictions of the pandemic, political parties used social media more than usual to expand their electoral campaign. They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Facebook and Instagram ads to reach potential voters in real time.
Our research found that the two largest political parties in Albania (Partia Socialiste and Partia Demokratike) and their candidates spent a total of about $410,800 over a six- to eight-week period from February to April 25 last year. The ads were aimed at voters aged 24-35. Each Facebook post reached an average of 10,000 to one million people each week.
While reviewing the profiles of the most popular politicians on Facebook, we noticed something fishy in the comments section of the posts. The comments came only from people who appreciated and supported these politicians. Negative comments were almost non-existent.
Some of the posting profiles were even more suspicious when one examined their activity, including how long they had been active on Facebook and their followers/friends on the social network. Their posts appeared coordinated, which raised the question: were these fake profiles created to manipulate voters?
Sophie Zhang, a data scientist and former Facebook employee who has investigated fake engagement on the platform, said the indicators we discovered could be evidence that positive comments are coming from fake profiles.
Zhang said that one Facebook account can coordinate hundreds of fake profiles without much effort or time. But trying to figure out who or what is generating the fake profiles is no easy task.
"Besides our suspicions, we cannot be sure whether the government or the political parties are behind this. It can also be an organization. It could be anyone", Zhang said.
Our research into the extent of disinformation or manipulation of social media by political parties came up with several findings.
Prime Minister Edi Rama's Facebook page usually has no negative comments. Some of the profiles of the people posting are relatively new with some posts made within a day of the commenter's profile being created.
On the Instagram platform of the Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku, the possibility to comment on the posts has been removed.
There are Facebook pages that aim offensive and harassing material at the political opponent of the ruling party. One was the "Unsaid of Albania" page, which was deleted from Facebook after the 2021 elections.
Political Science Professor Afrim Krasniqi says that the institutions involved in the elections, including the Central Election Commission, the Audio-Visual Media Authority, the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority, the Prosecutor's Office and other institutions for protection from cybercrime, must create practices and bases legal to protect the integrity of the election campaign.
"Since the 2021 campaign, neither has happened [the creation of legal and administrative safeguards against unethical and illegal behavior on social media], which does not exclude, even encourages the possibility of repetition in future elections" , said Krasniqi.
Referring to Article 9 of the Constitution, on the transparency of political parties' sources of funding, Krasniqi said that it should be noted that for most candidates the source of funding was the party's headquarters or relatives, election staff or other persons related to it. , and no. directly to a personal account as declared in the CEC.
"Due to the lack of legal basis and uncertainties in funding sources, this funding of social media can be considered legally problematic and politically incorrect. Parties and candidates who promise the rule of law must follow legal paths and transparent mechanisms for financing their campaign. said Krasniqi.
Our research also found that, during the most recent campaign, both political parties used hate speech and negative advertising directed at their opponents more than in previous elections.
The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and its restrictions shifted the election campaign to the various online platforms. Social media used to be the means through which political parties communicated with the electorate, and for good reason – it's the easiest way to reach a large audience at home or on their smartphone. The pandemic accelerated this trend.
The downside of this online communication is that it allowed misinformation to spread more quickly and easily. And those spreading it knew immediately who was reading or listening to their lies.
Another weakness, Krasniqi said, is that reaching voters through social media requires sensational headlines rather than coverage of what's happening day-to-day in a campaign.
Parties and candidates did just that, he said, along with the use of positive (for themselves) or negative (for rivals) photos, graphics, statistics, video clips and encouraged supporters to make mandatory divisions, especially for ruling parties, resulting in high visibility.
Another problem that contributes to the spread of misinformation, communication experts believe, is that the country's politicians and parties have turned into content producers, while the Albanian news media has lost its function of holding political interests accountable.
"The use of the media space as a speaker of political intent has created a crisis, because the media has moved on its axis from public interest to political interest", said Elvin Luku, head of MediaLook Center (online media).
Elert Yzeiri, director of information at A2CNN TV, agrees.
"Political players go from one television studio to another television studio explaining their promises, denigrating the opposing political forces and in most cases, asking predetermined questions to journalists or moderators of television programs." said Yzeiri.
He says that in the last 15-16 years, the media in general in Albania - but mainly television - has been brought to its knees by the influence of politics.
Yzeiri says that since the media began to broadcast or publish prepackaged materials from political parties without any filter or editing, disinformation in one form or another has penetrated the television screens and been imposed on the public.
The government, political parties, MPs and individuals involved are part of a propaganda army that produces disinformation, Yzeiri said, and he believes this is a pact accepted by the media, mainly media owners, who benefit financially from this arrangement.
"Even when a pact was made between various media outlets to boycott the so-called pre-packaged political 'tape', the mainstream national television media continued to accept and broadcast news produced by political parties without editing, paving the way for propaganda," Yzeiri added. .
Today in Albania there are few television media (ABC News, FAX News, SYRI) that refuse to broadcast the "tapes" produced in the offices of the government, municipality or other state institutions.
Institutions such as the Prime Minister's Office, the Municipality of Tirana and some ministries have more staff in their press offices than the largest national televisions in their newsrooms. This includes journalists, cameramen, editors, social media and IT specialists, who coordinately post, produce, and in many cases even attack with information and what some would call propaganda, Yzeiri said.
"The manner and form on which propaganda is based in the country is almost perfect. It does not need to be pushed by external actors,” he said.
Politics, scandals and economics are some of the main topics not only on TV news stations but also on online news portals.
During the last 15 months, the Albanian NGO Faktoje.al reviewed 260 statements and promises of senior government officials. He found that 19 statements were true, 53 were false, 24 half-true and 48 "uncategorized" statements. Faktoje reviewed 116 promises made by government officials and found that only six promises were kept and 110 unfulfilled.
The member of the Academy of Sciences, Artan Fuga, says that all the information provided by the Albanian media is systemic disinformation that can only be stopped with a complete reform of the legal framework of the media, forms of ownership, and regulatory institutions. as public media. The goal, Fuga says, should be to separate the media from monopolies and politics.
The problem is not the journalists but the media, adds Fuga, emphasizing that the media financially dependent on politics and business cannot be an independent media at all.
"A bad policy cannot be fixed by a good media, but a bad policy ultimately corrupts the media and makes it a bad media." said Fuga.
Elert Yzeiri suggested a possible way to combat disinformation is the education of journalists working in the media. But, at this point, there are only a few institutions to do this. He says the current status of media education efforts in the country and efforts to improve journalistic standards are almost non-existent.
Another problem that Yzeiri points out is that young journalists who come from schools to the newsroom have significant deficiencies. countless organizations produce worthless activities and never build real programs and training to improve standards, says Yzeiri. He said that monitoring institutions such as the Audio-Visual Media Authority should take more responsibility for media education.
"These journalists of the day and day will be employed by the same newsroom where the editor-in-chief, the director or the owner himself is still subject to politics", said Yzeiri.
The US Embassy is involved in a number of media education projects, including funding for journalism student training and media education at the national level. Other international partners, such as IREX, the European Union and numerous donors have long sought to fund, support and encourage standardized quality journalism and investigative reporting.
The Albanian Media Institute is currently involved in two media education projects. The first has a target group of students of pre-university education. This project includes a curriculum, teacher training and media education texts. This initiative is supported by UNESCO, the European Union, ASCAP and the Ministry of Education.
The second involves universities and will create a media education curriculum aimed at increasing the awareness and capacity of teachers and students. The Institute has also been engaged in several trainings for students and teachers focused on developing critical thinking and media literacy skills.
Finally, despite numerous institutional efforts to curb disinformation and misinformation in the media, one of which is being implemented by the Ministry of Education itself, the instigator of fake news and propaganda still remains the political class which at one point or another in time, runs the country.
