# Meta Under Fire: EU Probes Alleged Censorship of Albanian Protests **Meta** is facing intense scrutiny from European lawmakers following a wave of account suspensions targeting users reporting on anti-government protests in Albania. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are calling for an investigation into whether the social media giant's actions comply with the **EU's Digital Services Act** (DSA). ## The 'Flamingo Revolution' and Mass Suspensions The protests, dubbed the 'Flamingo Revolution,' have been ongoing for over three months in the Albanian capital, Tirana. They were initially sparked by a controversial luxury resort development linked to **Ivanka Trump** and **Jared Kushner**, and have since broadened to demand changes in land development laws and the resignation of the prime minister. Observers and NGOs, including **Repro Uncensored**, a non-profit tracking digital censorship, believe the widespread account suspensions are the result of a coordinated 'brigading' attack. MEP **Alexandra Geese**, a signatory to the letter addressed to the European Commission, stated, “What happened in Albania is tantamount to censorship.” ## Weaponizing Copyright Claims **Martha Dimitratou**, founder of **Repro Uncensored**, alleges her organization has strong evidence of coordinated activity behind the copyright complaints. “What quickly distinguished this from ordinary content moderation was the concentration of cases around the same political and civic movement,” Dimitratou explained. **Repro Uncensored** has verified approximately 100 cases of account restrictions connected to the protests, with estimates suggesting the true number could be several hundred. The pattern observed involved multiple posts on a single account receiving five to ten copyright complaints in a short period, leading to escalating enforcement and, in some instances, the disabling of entire accounts. One protester, **Arjan Koçi**, a British-Albanian documenting the protests on Instagram, reported receiving numerous emails from **Meta** alleging copyright infringement on his drone footage. Koçi's videos, showing the scale of the demonstrations, garnered millions of views. He noted that around 20 other protest-related accounts were simultaneously closed. ## The DMCA's Role and Paid Attacks **Kian Vesteinsson**, deputy director for tech policy and digital rights research at **Freedom House**, highlighted the vulnerability within platforms' reporting systems. “This tactic of mass copyright reporting, commonly called brigading, is an abuse of the systems that **Meta** has in place for people to report genuinely problematic, abusive, dangerous, or illegal content on their platforms,” Vesteinsson stated, drawing parallels to similar tactics used by the Myanmar military. In a shocking revelation, Koçi recounted how one complainant, who had filed five reports against his content from the same email address, admitted to being paid $1,800 to report accounts. The individual offered to withdraw the complaints if Koçi paid him in crypto, further substantiating the claims of a coordinated, financially motivated attack. **Dimitratou** emphasized that copyright claims can trigger enforcement more readily than other forms of reporting, making accounts vulnerable to automated suspensions when bad actors weaponize the platform’s own enforcement infrastructure. Vesteinsson also pointed out that US-based platforms adhere to US copyright law, specifically the **Digital Millennium Copyright Act** (**DMCA**), which has a notice-and-takedown provision that often favors overcompliance, making it easier for false claims to succeed. ## Meta's Response and Ongoing Investigation A **Meta** spokesperson acknowledged that the accounts were removed in error and have since been restored, stating, “We're sorry for the inconvenience caused. We have an appeals process for people to use when they think we've made a mistake, so we can restore content if we determine it doesn’t violate.” However, **Meta** did not comment on the ongoing investigation. While Koçi's account has been restored, he believes he is still being 'shadow banned.' Both Koçi and other protesters have accused the Albanian government of orchestrating these attacks, a claim vehemently denied by Albanian Prime Minister **Edi Rama**. European Commission spokesperson **Thomas Regnier** confirmed that the commission is already investigating **Meta** over concerns relating to the shadow banning of political voices. He stated that the latest allegations were “definitely not a surprise” and highlighted the **Digital Services Act**'s role in empowering users to challenge unjustified content moderation decisions.