TIRANA, Feb 20 /ATA/ Deputy Minister of Interior, Besfort Lamallari, said on Tuesday that, 2023 saw a 40% increase in criminal offenses registered by the State Police in the field of cybercrime.
In a televised interview, Lamallari said that, out of 756 criminal offenses, 70% are related to the misuse of social networks.
Lamallari emphasized that, “Other than physical security, the scope of State Police also includes cyber security. We could not fall silent. In 2023, there was a 40% increase in criminal offenses registered by the State Police in the field of cybercrime, out of 756 criminal offenses in 2023, the abuse and misuse of social media account for 70 percent. We had to respond to protect the vulnerable category of young people and school students. I am happy that the TikTok has been alerted.”
Deputy Minister of Interior also revealed details from the meeting with TikTok representatives yesterday in Tirana.
Lamallari said that they requested an increase in the number of Albanian moderators to filter content in the Albanian language.
According to Lamallari, TikTok representatives have been requested to add keywords that are offensive and blackmail in the Albanian language and that constitute grounds for a criminal investigation.
Likewise, Lamallari said that a request has been made regarding age control.
“TikTok executives were in Albania. The director stated there that they agreed to increase the number of moderators of the Albanian language and to add the keywords that are offensive and blackmailing, which constitute grounds for a criminal investigation. In order to make it easier for such comments not to pop up, they committed themselves to adding the Albanian language for the automatic filtering of some terms that are offensive and bullying. There were other elements related to the age limit. It makes no sense for a 13-year-old to use this social network, a 13-year-old uses it differently from others. We made three concrete requests asking the company to designate contact persons for the State Police”, said Lamallari.
Lamallari said that, in addition to meetings with TikTok representatives, there will also be meetings with representatives of the META platform, Facebook and Instagram.
Deputy Minister said that they will undertake a legal initiative, which will be aligned with EU legislation, including a number of obligations for the protection of users.
/r.e/sm/
