Albania declares one-year TikTok ban over stabbing
Albania’s Prime Minister, Edi Rama, has announced plans to block access to TikTok for a year following the killing of a schoolboy last month, which has raised concerns about social media’s influence on children.
Speaking on Saturday, Rama stated that the proposed ban would take effect in January.
TikTok has responded by seeking urgent clarification from the Albanian government regarding the decision. The platform informed the BBC that it found no evidence indicating that either the alleged perpetrator or the victim, both 14, had TikTok accounts.
During a meeting in Tirana with teachers, parents, and psychologists, Rama criticized TikTok, calling it “the thug of the neighbourhood.” He added, “We are going to close it for a year and start implementing programs to educate students and assist parents in monitoring their children’s activities.”
The decision comes less than a month after the fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old student and the injury of another in a school-related fight in southern Tirana, which reportedly originated from a social media conflict.
The incident has sparked widespread debate in Albania among parents, psychologists, and educators about the impact of social media on youth.
“In China, TikTok promotes how students can take courses, how to protect nature, how to keep traditions, but on the TikTok outside China we see only scum and mud. Why do we need this?”, Rama said.
TikTok is already banned in India, which was one of the app’s largest markets before it was outlawed in June 2020. It is also blocked in Iran, Nepal, Afghanistan and Somalia.
TikTok is also fighting against a law passed by the US Congress which would ban the app from 19 January unless it is sold by ByteDance – its Chinese parent company.
The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear last-minute legal arguments from TikTok as to why it should not be banned or sold with a hearing scheduled for 10 January – just days before the 19 January deadline imposed by Congress.
The US government is taking action against the app because of what it says are its links to the Chinese state – links which TikTok and ByteDance have denied.
Several European countries including France, Germany and Belgium have enforced restrictions on social media use for children.
In November Australia passed the world’s strictest measures by voting to ban children under the age of 16 from using social media.
That particular ban will take at least a year to implement.
UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC that a similar ban for under-16s is “on the table” but added that he wanted to see more evidence first.
