|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Claim: A viral post claims that YouTube is legally prohibited from showing advertisements in Albania, suggesting that users who connect to an Albanian VPN server can watch YouTube completely ad-free.
Verdict: False. Albania has no law that bans YouTube or any video-sharing platform from displaying advertisements. The applicable legislation regulates how ads and content are presented, but does not outlaw ads on such platforms.
Full Text
A post shared by the X (Twitter) user Shefqet Fejzo (@ShefqetFejzo11) on November 25, 2025, contains a screenshot of a comment by a user named “Jack_Brutal,” stating:
“If you have a VPN, connect to the Albania server. It is illegal for YouTube to have ads in Albania.”
In Fejzo’s post, the screenshot is captioned “Albania reigns supreme.”
As of the time of the post, it had garnered 5.4 million views, 290 comments, 7,100 likes, 136,000 reposts, and 12,000 bookmarks.
On Facebook, several accounts also made those claims, with some suggesting that YouTube is legally prohibited from showing ads in Albania. So, connect your VPN to an Albanian server and enjoy ad-free YouTube.”
Similar posts on Facebook can be seen here, here, and here.
Because the post’s virality suggests that Albania has outlawed YouTube ads and because such claims are widely shared online, DUBAWA required verification.
Verification
Legislative Basis – What the law says:
- The governing statute is Law No. 97/2013 “On Audiovisual Media in the Republic of Albania,” which was amended by Law No. 30/2023.
- Under the amendment (2023), the law’s “Field of application” was expanded to explicitly include video-sharing platform services (VSPs), meaning that platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, etc., fall under the law’s scope.
- The law defines obligations for VSPs: to protect minors, prevent harmful or illegal content (e.g., hate speech, incitement of violence, child pornography), and ensure transparent, ethical handling of audiovisual and commercial communications.
- However, the law does not contain any clause banning advertising on video-sharing platforms. It regulates content standards and quality of commercial communications, not the presence of ads themselves.
Regulator’s Practice and Public Statements: What AMA says and does
- In the 2023 Annual Report presentation to the Albanian Parliament (July 25, 2024), the Chair of AMA, Armela Krasniqi, confirmed that following the 2023 legal changes, AMA’s mandate now covers video-sharing platforms. The report emphasised issues such as harmful content, television piracy, transparency in media ownership, licensing/authorisation of audiovisual media service providers (AVMSPs), and cooperation with major platforms (including YouTube, Meta, TikTok) to regulate online audiovisual content.
- The same report notes that AMA requested the removal of 19 links from various VSPs in 2023. Still, these removals were due to the content being broadcast without proper rights or violating content standards (e.g., piracy), not because of advertising per se.
- Under the new regulatory regime, AMA tracks and sanctions violations such as “hidden advertising,” misleading ads, content harmful to minors, or unauthorised rebroadcast, again showing that the regulation is about how content and ads are managed, not about banning ads themselves.
Why the “No Ads in Albania” Myth Persists – Market & Technical Factors
- YouTube doesn’t serve ads to viewers with Albanian IP addresses because Albania isn’t part of Google’s monetised markets for the YouTube Partner Programme. This means creators can’t earn from ads there, and viewers don’t see them – it’s a business decision tied to Albania’s small market size and low ad revenue potential, not a legal prohibition.
- Due to a practical lack of ads, a social-media comment (as in the viral post) repeats the assumption that “ads must be illegal.” But personal experiences, anecdotal observations, or VPN-use tricks do not constitute legal evidence.
- No official public record or legal document indicates that YouTube, Google, or any VSP was ever penalised for simply running advertisements in Albania, only for content or broadcast-rights violations.
- Some users in Albania have criticised Google for not running services in their country, a move others have taken advantage of; it is unclear why, but it is not illegal.
Conclusion
The claim that “YouTube ads are illegal in Albania” is false. Albanian law, even after its 2023 amendment expanding regulation to video-sharing platforms, does not ban advertisements. Instead, it imposes ‘strict’ content and ethical standards on audiovisual and commercial communications, including protections for minors and prohibitions on illicit or harmful content.
Bullshit