As police warn of criminal prosecution for "market manipulation" and "computer forgery" against thousands of citizens who are negatively evaluating businesses perceived to be close to the government, legal experts and civil society accuse it of a blackmail attempt to suppress freedom of expression and equate legitimate digital protest with cybercrime.

Vladimir Karaj | BIRN

A month ago, when the massive protests against the government had just begun, in a corner of the internet, a social platform known as Reddit – little known and little used by Albanians, users of a forum about Albania suggested boycotting businesses they consider to be connected to the government.

"Boycott oligarch businesses," was the message in a post from 30 days ago, among dozens of others calling for people to join the protest or similar organizations.

The call was followed by others, and a few days ago, participants in these forums and likely other groups on social networks organized themselves to publish negative reviews or low ratings on the Google Reviews platform against a number of businesses – including some of the country's major media outlets, owned by people who support the government.

In the last 48 hours, thousands of citizens left 1-star ratings or negative comments on a long list of businesses, first targeting Rozafa Fish City, whose owner Gjergj Luca had attacked the protest and used hashtags against protesters. Luca reacted on July 8 on the company's Facebook page.

"Your ancestors used to put people in prison with anonymous letters, while you, their descendants, with fake profiles and insults on social media, only tickle our businesses," Luca wrote in a post that was accompanied by an ironic video.

But while the protest was ridiculed on social media, a number of businesses turned to the State Police with reports against the wave of negative comments and reviews.

In a statement to the media, the Director General of the State Police, Skënder Hita, himself warned of criminal prosecution for commenters or those leaving notes.

"I want to make it clear that any person found to be involved in this illegal activity, regardless of their location, will face the full force of the law," Hita said in the statement.

Asked by BIRN about the legal references for criminal prosecution, Hita referred to 4 articles of the Criminal Code, 2 for market and price manipulation, computer forgery and defamation.

But civil society representatives, freedom of expression activists, and legal experts view the statement and police investigations with deep concern, describing it as a tool of pressure that risks criminalizing freedom of expression and citizens' digital protest.

"The statement, given at a time when protests have been ongoing for 40 days, creates an intimidating effect on citizens who are protesting both digitally and physically," warns Orkidea Xhaferaj, an expert in digital rights and cybersecurity at SCiDEV, while noting that the language used by the State Police has a direct impact on citizens' freedom and seems to aim for intimidation.

Criminal charges against Google stars
A whole network of applications and websites, mainly related to the service industry, allows customers of restaurants or similar businesses to leave notes, comments or simply rate businesses with stars depending on the service they receive.

High ratings are essentially free advertising for businesses, which then appear to new customers more often and also influence their attendance. The vast majority of these services require that the rating be linked to a physical presence at the restaurant and from registered addresses.

Google Reviews, which appears to have been the most used system for leaving low, one-star ratings on several businesses in Albania in the last two days, requires less confirmation.

However, BIRN noted that most of the reviews on these businesses were written by people who did not hide, using real addresses and names. Some of them made it clear that the reviews were related to the protest, accusing the businesses of being oligarchs or making similar political remarks. But the vast majority are low 1-star reviews and no comments.

When questioned by BIRN, the Director General of the State Police, Skënder Hita, insisted that the investigations were not political and that the police were following up on reports from businesses.

"Citizens have every right to engage in politics, to protest, to do anything without violating the law," said Hita.

He announced that the wave of negative reviews was being investigated under 4 articles of the Criminal Code. According to him, the references for the investigation were Article 143/a/1, for market manipulation, 143/a/3 point c, for price manipulation and false information on goods and prices, Article 120, defamation, and Article 186/a, which deals with computer forgery.

But the first two articles referred to deal with attempts related to price manipulation specifically: “Intentionally misrepresenting the value of a commodity” and stock market manipulation or spreading information or “other false facts about the increase or decrease in the price of securities.” Computer forgery also does not seem to describe the case, as there is no interference with Google’s systems or similar sites, while it is unclear how placing a one-star rating or even negative comments about a business could be considered defamation.

Lawyer Gentjan Serjani explains that the police's claims are not valid and that the statement shows once again that the country is in the midst of an unusual wave of protests that, according to him, "finds the criminal justice system unprepared."

He said that it was absurd for a citizen to be accused of serious offenses such as "Market Manipulation" (143/a/1) or "Price Manipulation" (143/a/3/c) simply for a comment on the internet.

“These are considered subjective opinions or assessments, not criminal facts. A negative review is protected by freedom of expression, especially when it describes the customer’s personal experience,” argues Serjani. The only legal risk, he adds, exists if the review contains false factual claims such as, “this food poisoned me” when it did not happen, which fall under the criminal offense of defamation.

Experts: Violation of freedom of expression and intimidation
But for experts, this is not a new event, nor is Albania the first country where protests of this form have occurred.

Orkidea Xhaferaj emphasizes that the phenomenon is known and is seen as active participation of citizens in politics through digital platforms.

"In the literature, the definition of review bombing is known as such... as a new tactic for consumers to engage in informal political participation," she said.

Citizens around the world use it to protest against political discourse, media or industries. Referring to police claims of coordination, Xhaferaj says that boycotts or similar protest actions are normally coordinated and this is a right that is protected and for which there are decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.

"Therefore, coordination, massiveness and synchronization are not enough on their own to make it illegal. It becomes illegal when accompanied by fictitious accounts, secret payments, impersonation, fabricated experiences, threats, extortion or technical manipulation," she said.

Xhaferaj was critical of the way the police presented the case, questioning whether the police really had the authority to investigate.

Isa Myzyraj, representative of the Albanian Journalists Association, emphasizes that this statement raises more questions than it answers.

"Publicly claiming that there is an organized network with over 10 accounts that is attacking Albanian tourism, without presenting any concrete evidence, risks creating a climate of distrust and turning into a political statement, not an institutional one of a serious police force," says Myzyraj.

He adds that the claim that there are "attacks on tourism" has been a well-known political narrative of the government for years and that assessments on online platforms are protected by freedom of expression.

"Negative or positive reviews on online platforms are part of freedom of expression and the right of consumers to share their experience," he said.

For Rigels Xhemollari from Qëndresa Këyetare, the situation also shows a use of police structures for political purposes. “The statement was dangerous, unprofessional and politically influenced,” he emphasizes, adding that the alleged criminal offenses do not meet the objective and subjective side in this case.

Political representatives also reacted strongly to the statement. Mundësia Party MP Erald Kapri told BIRN that the alleged investigations were blackmail against the protesters.

"The launch of an investigation by the State Police against citizens who freely write 'reviews' on Google is pure blackmail to discourage the protest," said Kapri, while accusing the police of illegal escorts and disproportionate violence during the protests.

Bora Mema, an activist of the Together Movement, challenged the police by making her review public.

"Since the State Police has no better things to do, including exploiting minors at work, and has decided to criminalize negative reviews of Gjergj Luca, let them start with me and any citizen who will join in," Mema wrote.