TIRANA, July 11 /ATA/ – Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Saturday that social media algorithms do not cause protests but amplify misinformation, anger and negative content, contributing to heightened public tensions.
Speaking at the Socialist Party’s “RinCamp 2026” youth event in coastal village of Jalë, southern Albania, Rama said studies showed that falsehoods, accusations and sensational content spread more rapidly on social media than verified information.
“Algorithms amplify anger, dissatisfaction and everything that tends towards scandal and negativity. They do not create protests, but they amplify the noise,” Rama said.
Referring to recent protests against a planned tourism development in the coastal area of Zvërnec, Rama said demonstrations stemmed from genuine public concerns that should be understood and addressed. However, he argued that manipulated videos and false reports circulating online had intensified the situation.
“Every protest carries a message, and it is my duty to understand those messages,” he said, adding that it was also important to distinguish between citizens’ legitimate concerns and attempts by other actors to manipulate public opinion.
Addressing criticism of the Zvërnec project, Rama said the debate had been distorted by disinformation and rejected claims that the government was selling public land.
“The protests began over Zvërnec, but today Zvërnec has been forgotten because the facts turned out to be different from what people had been led to believe through disinformation,” he said.
Rama said the government had not sold either Zvërnec or the nearby island of Sazan and was instead seeking an agreement under which the Albanian state would retain an ownership stake in the planned investment.
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