Albania to shut down TikTok for a year, saying the platform promotes violence among children
Albania’s prime minister said Saturday the government will block video service TikTok for a year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children.
Albanian authorities held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents after a teenager was stabbed to death by another teenager in mid-November following a fight that started on TikTok.
Prime Minister Edi Rama, speaking at a meeting with teachers and parents, said that TikTok “will remain completely closed to everyone. … There will be no TikTok in the Republic of Albania.” Rama said the shutdown would begin sometime next year.
It was not immediately clear whether TikTok had a representative in Albania.
In an email response Saturday to a request for comment, TikTok asked for “immediate clarity from the Albanian government” on the case of the stabbed teen. The company said it found “no evidence that the perpetrators or victims had TikTok accounts, and multiple reports have indeed confirmed that the videos associated with this incident were not posted on TikTok, but on another platform.” Were going.”
According to domestic researchers, Albanian children are the largest group of TikTok users in the country.
Concern among Albanian parents has increased after reports of cases of bullying by children carrying knives and other objects to school for fights or promoted by stories seen on TikTok.
According to Rama, TikTok’s operations in China, where its parent company is based, are different, promoting “how to study better, how to conserve nature… etc.”
Albania is too small a country to impose changes to its algorithms on TikTok so it doesn’t promote “the endless hellish reproduction of the language of hatred, violence, bullying, etc,” Rama’s office wrote in an email response. The Associated Press requested comment. Rama’s office said TikTok in China “prevents children from falling into this trap.”
Authorities have instituted a series of protective measures in schools, starting with an increased police presence, training programs, and close collaboration with parents.
Rama said Albania would watch how the company and other countries react to the one-year closure before deciding whether to allow the company to resume operations in Albania.
Not everyone agreed with Rama’s decision to shut down TikTok.
“The dictatorial decision to shut down the social media platform TikTok… is a serious act against freedom of expression and democracy,” said Ina Zhupa, a lawmaker from the main opposition Democratic Party. “This is a pure electoral act and an abuse of power to suppress freedom.”
There are parliamentary elections in Albania next year.