Albania BANS TikTookay after schoolboy was knifed to loss of life following on-line feud: Prime minister labels app ‘the thug of the neighbourhood’ as he proclaims European first
Albania will ban TikTok after a teenager was stabbed to death at the end of the school day following a social media feud.
Prime Minister Edi Rama has announced that the government will shut down TikTok for 12 months from January as he accused the social media platform of inciting violence and bullying, especially among children.
‘For one year, we’ll be completely shutting it down for everyone. There will be no TikTok in Albania,’ he said on Saturday after meeting parents’ groups and teachers.
The major crackdown, the first of its kind in Europe, was prompted by the death of a 14-year-old boy who was stabbed by another pupil in November.
Authorities have held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents since the stabbing which happened after a quarrel that started on social media apps.
The schoolboy was stabbed in the heart and died an hour later in hospital, according to media reports. The fight was filmed and celebrated online by some TikTok users.
It has not been established yet whether the argument started on TikTok. But Mr Rama said the app is to blame, describing it as ‘the thug of the neighbourhood’.
‘The problem today is not our children, the problem today is us, the problem today is our society, the problem today is TokTok and all the others that are taking our children hostage,’ Mr Rama said.
Prime Minister Edi Rama (pictured) has announced that the government will shut down TikTok for 12 months from January
The major crackdown, the first of its kind in Europe, was prompted by the death of a 14-year-old boy who was stabbed by another pupil in November. Pictured: A TikTok logo on the Albanian flag
Following Tirana’s decision, TikTok asked for ‘urgent clarity from the Albanian government’ in the case of the stabbed teenager.
The China-based company said it had ‘found no evidence that the perpetrator or victim had TikTok accounts, and multiple reports have in fact confirmed videos leading up to this incident were being posted on another platform, not TikTok.’
But Mr Rama defended the measure and said: ‘The ban on TikTok for one year in Albania is not a rushed reaction to a single incident, but a carefully considered decision made in consultation with parent communities in schools across the country.’
He added: ‘To claim that the killing of the teenage boy has no connection to TikTok because the conflict didn’t originate on the platform demonstrates a failure to grasp both the seriousness of the threat TikTok poses to children and youth today and the rationale behind our decision to take responsibility for addressing this threat.’
‘Albania may be too small to demand that TikTok protect children and youth from the frightening pitfalls of its algorithm,’ he said, blaming TikTok for ‘the reproduction of the unending hell of the language of hatred, violence, bullying and so on.’
Albanian children comprise the largest group of TikTok users in the country, according to domestic researchers.
Many youngsters in Albania did not approve of the ban.
‘We disclose our daily life and entertain ourselves, that is, we exploit it during our free time,’ said Samuel Sulmani, an 18-year-old in the town of Rreshen, 47 miles north of the capital Tirana, on Sunday.
‘We do not agree with that because that’s a deprivation for us.’
TikTok is banned in several countries, including India, Iran, Nepal, Afghanistan and Somalia. (File image)
But Albanian parents have been increasingly concerned following reports of children taking knives and other objects to school to use in quarrels or cases of bullying promoted by stories they see on TikTok.
‘Our decision couldn’t be clearer: Either TikTok protects the children of Albania, or Albania will protect its children from TikTok,’ said Mr Rama.
TikTok is banned in several countries, including India, Iran, Nepal, Afghanistan and Somalia.
Australia also recently passed the world’s strictest law on social media, banning under-16s from any such platforms.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was a ‘clear, causal link’ between the rise of addictive social media and harm to ‘the mental health of young Australians’.
Firms flouting the law, which will take at least a year to kick in, could be fined $50million (£25 million).
The bill, passed during the final day of Parliament of the year, is set to come into effect by the end of 2025.
In France, children are not allowed to access social media until they are 15, unless they have parental permission.
The US is moving to ban TikTok unless it is sold by ByteDance, its chinese parent company, by January 19.
Congress claim the app is linked to the Chinese state, but this is denied by TikTok and ByteDance.
