Troll of the Year 2024: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama

The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spread hate based on gender, ethnicity, religion or other diversity categories, across the Western Balkan region. In December, RDN combined votes from the Western Balkan countries with input from a public voting process to select the Troll of the Year.

In the first round, RDN team from all six countries in the region shortlisted the top six Trolls from the 12 monthly nominees. This was followed by two rounds of voting on our Instagram channel, where our social media followers helped us to select the Troll of the Year. On the first day, they chose the top three finalists, and on the second day, they made their selection for the Troll of the Year.

The selection this year was Prime Minister Edi Rama in Albania who during a parliamentary session, whilst being questioned by the opposition regarding allegations of industrial waste potentially containing hazardous toxic substance, dismissed all allegations. He, furthermore, shifted the response and attention towards the opposition MP Gazment Bardhi, making sarcastic comments about how he gained his expertise and position. His comments were packed with sexist connotation and served as an ad-hominem attack used against his political opponent.

The entire parliamentary session was broadcast by Top Channel – a very popular tv station in the country with a large reach and audience. The broadcast was accompanied by a sensationalistic headline which contained harmful and inappropriate language used by Rama. This only served to further amplify the sexist language. Even though Rama did not use the exact words as outlined in the headline, the network chose to prioritise the provocative, sexist rhetoric with full intention, knowing that this would most likely get a larger response from their audience who would prefer to watch this report rather than the full interview.

Prime Minister, Edi Rama, holds a position of both power and influence, which involves a lot of responsibility. Indeed, in a role as such, one has a duty to act in the best interest of the people one represents. Rather than engaging in heated debates, using sexist language and getting involved in ad-hominem attacks, Rama should set a positive example for other members of parliament alongside the public, whose image he represents. Although it is of course acceptable to have differing political opinions and engage in healthy debate, these differences can and should be expressed respectfully, without resorting to hateful language or personal attacks.

This incident represents a troubling trend towards the normalisation of inappropriate language, hateful and insulting rhetoric being used in public discourse especially by one political group against the other. When someone with significant political power and position, such as a Prime Minister engages in such behaviour, it sets a dangerous role model. As leaders, Prime Ministers and politicians alike are expected to uphold certain principles of dialogue and respectful behaviour, serving as role models to others. Using hateful language and rhetoric alongside insults, only deepens political polarisation but also undermines the democratic process.

The media plays a crucial role in shaping public opinion and disseminating information to the public. When incidents of hateful language or personal attacks arise, especially from prominent figures like a Prime Minister, the media has a responsibility to go beyond sensationalism. Simply highlighting and amplifying such moments for the sake of engagement, viewership or readership risks deepening divisions and distracting from meaningful discourse.

Instead, the media should focus on contextualising the issue, pointing out the harmful implications of such behaviour. This can help to prevent the normalisation of such behaviour and promote more informed public dialogue. The media’s failure to do so, only risks further amplifying and encouraging sexist and harmful behaviour in public discourse.