Press Release: Coordinated Digital Attacks Target Activists Documenting Albania’s Flamingo Revolution
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dozens of activists and civic platforms have been targeted, cutting hundreds of thousands of people off from information about the protests
BRUSSELS/TIRANA, 31 AUGUST 2026 — Repro Uncensored has confirmed dozens of censorship cases targeting social media accounts connected to Albania’s Flamingo Revolution. Collectively, the affected accounts reach hundreds of thousands of people in Albania and around the world who rely on them for accurate information about the protests.
Reported actions include content removals, restrictions and the disabling of entire accounts. Most cases documented by Repro Uncensored appear to involve coordinated copyright infringement reports.
“What we are witnessing in Albania appears to be a coordinated campaign to silence activists and remove critical political content from social media. Most cases follow the same pattern: accounts are targeted through repeated copyright infringement reports, and platforms restrict or disable them before establishing whether those claims are legitimate.
“In at least one case, the person filing the reports admitted being paid $1,800 in cryptocurrency to take down multiple accounts. When bad-faith actors can pay to erase political voices and Meta’s systems automatically carry out the removal, platform infrastructure becomes a tool for censorship and a direct threat to civic space, freedom of expression and democracy.”
— Martha Dimitratou, Founder and Executive Director of Repro Uncensored
The Flamingo Revolution began at the end of May as grassroots opposition to a controversial €1.4 billion luxury development planned for Albania’s protected coastline in the Zvërnec and Vjosa-Narta area.
It has since developed into a broader protest against changes to protected-area legislation, corruption, political impunity and what protesters describe as the sale of Albania’s public assets.
Activists say that limited and hostile coverage by traditional media has made Instagram, Facebook and TikTok essential for documenting the protests, mobilising public support and communicating with international media and European policymakers.
A pattern of coordinated copyright reporting
Videos have been removed in rapid succession, accounts have received multiple copyright notices within minutes and new profiles created after earlier suspensions have also been targeted.
Copyright reporting remains one of the least scrutinised and most easily abused areas of platform moderation. Content and entire accounts can be removed before platforms adequately verify whether the person filing a report owns the material in question.
Journalist Alesia Burnazi, @alesiaburnazi, began experiencing removals on 19 August after documenting the protests from Tirana for nearly three months. Instagram removed videos covering multiple days of protest, followed by collaborative and personal posts. Some were later restored after Meta acknowledged that the removals were erroneous.
“This is the new era of digital repression. Freedom to protest also means digital freedom. I will continue to use my platform to report from the ground, to amplify the voices of Albanian citizens and not to be intimidated by those who want to silence the only medium where Albanians are sharing crucial information about the Flamingo Revolution.”
— Alesia Burnazi, journalist
Albanian protester Ina Derguti also reported that her account was taken down after being falsely targeted for copyright infringement while documenting and speaking about the protests.
“Having my account taken down while I’m actively documenting and speaking about the ongoing protests in Albania is honestly alarming. Social media is the only place where people can share what is actually happening in real time, because traditional media has abandoned us.
“I can’t say for certain who is behind the reports, but the timing is deeply concerning. When traditional media fails to give people a voice during protests, being able to speak freely online becomes even more important.”
— Ina Derguti, Albanian protester
Reporter admitted being paid to target multiple accounts
Activist Arjan Koci used an Instagram account with more than 40,000 followers to document the movement from its beginning.
His videos were repeatedly targeted through copyright reports before the account was disabled. Koci says that the person responsible for filing the reports admitted being paid $1,800 in cryptocurrency to target multiple accounts, including his. New accounts created by Koci were subsequently targeted and suspended.
Other affected accounts include @flamingo_revolution_, @bodurix_ and @marioqirici, an organiser of Albanian diaspora protests in New York.
Studentët Denoncojnë, @studentet__denoncojne, a major student-rights platform with approximately 85,000 followers, has been disabled since 9 June. Its representatives believe the removal may be connected to the protests and wider civic activity in Albania, although this has not been independently established.
Repro Uncensored has also received a report from Glidewell Labs, whose TikTok account was removed after posting about the protests.
Activists, including Koci, suspect possible links to the Albanian government. Repro Uncensored is investigating who coordinated and funded the attacks and whether political actors were involved. These allegations have not yet been independently established.
Platforms must disclose their relationships in Albania
Repro Uncensored is calling on Meta and TikTok to immediately restore wrongfully removed content and accounts and investigate the coordinated and potentially paid reporting activity.
The platforms must also disclose:
Which third-party companies, contractors and intermediaries are involved in Albanian-language content moderation and copyright enforcement.
What authority those third parties have to review, escalate or remove content and accounts.
Whether the platforms or their moderation partners have direct communication, working relationships or content-removal arrangements with the Albanian government, state bodies or political actors.
Whether any government representative, political actor, contractor or intermediary contacted them about content connected to the Flamingo Revolution.
Whether the same reporters, organisations or payment networks were involved in targeting multiple accounts.
Meta and TikTok must preserve all records connected to these cases, provide meaningful human review and introduce safeguards preventing activists from being removed through unverified copyright allegations.
The Albanian government should also disclose whether any ministry, state body, representative, contractor or intermediary has communicated with social media platforms about accounts documenting the Flamingo Revolution.
####################
About Repro Uncensored
Repro Uncensored is the leading global nonprofit documenting digital censorship, reinstating accounts and protecting freedom of expression. It has documented thousands of censorship cases across more than 50 countries and reinstated dozens of accounts with millions in reach.
Through research, legal action, policy reform and direct support, Repro Uncensored works to hold technology companies accountable and protect access to information.
Media contact
Repro UncensoredWebsite: https://www.reprouncensored.org
Instagram: @reprouncensored
Email: media@reprouncensored.org