Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Belinda Balluku has issued this Thursday in the Assembly details about the draft law on "For some changes and additions to the law no. 97/2013 "On audiovisual media in the Republic of Albania".

During her speech in the Assembly, Balluku underlined that this draft law has been compiled as part of Albania's obligations for EU membership.

Furthemrore, she declared that this is an important draft law in terms of the smooth running of the media in Albania, mentioning media education, in terms of how selective viewers and readers can be.

"The viewing habits, especially those of the younger generations, have changed, but television remains an important means of disseminating information for the generations that have access to it. The convergence of the media requires a new legal framework to achieve a balance between access and in this spirit comes today the amended bill. This bill comes as part of Albania's obligations for EU membership.

Media education, the distribution of videos and those created by the users themselves also find a place in this draft law. The concept of media literacy refers to the ability and knowledge of the user, which is about audience awareness and informing the public to know how to distinguish hate speech or fake news that is used in the media. What remains most important is protecting children from harm and risk to their mental health from social media.

Although not part of the directive, but of the legislation on gender balance, the concept of sexism in the media has also been added, to respect gender equality in audio-visual media. This draft law has been drawn up carefully by the relevant staff, taking consultations with the support of European partners", said Balluku.