This Report delves into the financial aspect of online campaigning, depicting a landscape characterized by lax regulation, the proliferation of malicious actors, and limited oversight capabilities to keep pace with rapid changes. In this sense, the challenges facing Albania are no different from those being tackled across much of the democratic world.

While this Report focuses on untracked financing in Albania, it acknowledges the broader concerns, such as opaque communication practices and the unchecked exploitation of personal data for voter targeting. To date, there has been minimal in-depth research into the specific problems that Albania should address and the effectiveness of existing legislation.

This Report seeks to fill this gap by examining current regulatory practices in Albania, analysing activities during the 2021 parliamentary election and 2023 local government election. It also explores broader challenges encountered when regulating online campaign expenditure and examines international developments and regulatory trends in other countries in this realm. The paper concludes with recommendations for reforming Albania's political finance regulations.