Interior Minister Taulant Balla hosted TikTok’s Director of Public Policy and Government Relations for Central and Eastern Europe, Jakub Olek, in a meeting today (February 19).
During the meeting, Minister Balla expressed to Olek his concerns about recent events and the need to increase vigilance against violence, disinformation, blackmail and hate speech online.
Also, during the meeting, Balla requested detailed information on the storage and use of users’ personal data.
The head of TikTok, who together with his team today will also meet with representatives of the State Police and other agencies, informed me about the measures he is taking to increase the level of moderation of posts in the Albanian language and on the possibilities offered by the application for reporting cases and parental control over children’s posts.
“I asked the TikTok company to establish permanent points of contact with the State Police and respond as quickly as possible to the cases reported by them. Increased attention is urgently needed regarding the control of posts in the Albanian language, the impossibility of using this network for activity or promotion of illegal behavior, the necessity of verifying the age and identity of users, monitoring the time of stay, parental monitoring with purpose of avoiding addiction among children and teenagers, as well as the need raised by the European Parliament for detailed monitoring during election periods to avoid misinformation and interference in the election process.
The Ministry of the Interior is carefully studying the legal improvements undertaken by the European Union, such as the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, etc., with the aim of creating a digital space in Albania where the basic rights and obligations of users are protected and clearly defined”, said minister Balla.
