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Critical Instagram accounts shut down for hours, suspicions of coordinated attack on anti-government voices

The citizen protest against the government cabinet marks its 96th day this Thursday, while the main demand of the protesters continues to be the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama. Facing the clash on the boulevard, the opposition movement is now also dealing with a worrying development on social media.

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Hundreds of accounts of people expressing opposition to the government or supporting the protest have been shut down for several hours.

The digital strike is suspected to have affected the Instagram profiles of some of the most prominent figures of the protest and critics of the government. It is reported that dozens of accounts have been shut down, among them the official page of the chairman of the “Mundësia” (Opportunity) Party, Agron Shehaj, as well as the profile of IT expert and activist Gent Progni.

Shehaj was among the first to make public the notification about the blocking of his account. Meanwhile, independent MP Marjana Koçeku stated that it is not just about isolated cases, but a massive wave, during which over 200 pages that published protest materials have been shut down.

Koçeku has denounced the case as a direct attack on freedom of expression. She also announced that she has reported the interference to the institutions of the European Union.

“Since yesterday, a wave of online attacks has appeared, concentrated especially on some opposition figures with political and public influence. More than 200 Instagram pages containing protest materials have been shut down, including the official page of MP Agron Shehaj, that of activist Gent Progni, and well-known profiles that have consistently supported the protest. At the Bled Forum, online security and cyber attacks on freedom of expression were the main topics of discussion among European Commissioners. Our government defends this right fanatically in international forums, while inside the country it tries to topple it at any cost and by any means,” Koçeku stated.