July 1, 2024
From February to June, 10 students from the Department of Law at Epoka University, took part in one of the activities of the project “No to Corruption, Yes to Democracy”, implemented by Albanian Helsinki Committee, with the financial support of the Swedish Government.
During this timeframe, Epoka University’s team participated in the Student Debate Competition organised on 20th of march 2024, where they presented their cause on the necessity to regulate online social platforms used in Albania.
Later on to further elaborate their cause the team was engaged on drafting a research paper, providing a brief legal analyses of EU’s regulatory legislation on online social platforms, compared to our national laws, with the aim of presenting concrete recommendations for the alignment of Albanian legislation with European standards.
Pursuant to this comparison, the paper recommended a legislative initiative on having a new Law regulating the content of Online Social Platforms in Albania and a specific provision in the Criminal Code for the publication and distribution of photos or videos with sexually explicit content.
Following this findings, the students initiated a petition to the Assembly of Albania to recommend said recommendations.
The impact of this initiative, in addition to the inclusion of the youth voice in a modern and current issue, also includes the increase in the responsibility and accountability of public institutions against legal citizen initiatives. It also aims to make the online space a safer place for young people and all age groups who actively use it.
The Department of Law thanks the Albanian Helsinki Committee for involving the students in this project.
Congratulation to the students participating in this initiative: Arba Xhani; Artemis Senja; Bethni Levandi; Greta Deliallisi; Katerina Çela; Lea Kryeziu; Leonardo Bezhi; Megi Musabelliu; Oresta Xhengo; Vesa Muka
