Albania has banned TikTok for a year in response to the murder of an adolescent

Following the recent murder of a teenager, which sparked concerns regarding the potential impact of social media on children, Albania on Saturday implemented a one-year prohibition on TikTok, a popular short video application.

Following a meeting with parents’ groups and instructors from across the nation, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that the ban, which is a component of a more comprehensive initiative to enhance the safety of schools, will be implemented in the early part of the following year.

“For a period of one year, we will shut it down entirely for all users.” “There will be no TikTok in Albania,” Rama declared.

A number of European countries, such as France, Germany, and Belgium, have implemented regulations regarding the use of social media by minors. Australia’s November approval of a comprehensive social media ban for minors under 16 is one of the most stringent regulations in the world that targets Big Tech.

Rama has attributed the proliferation of violence among young people in and outside of school to social media, with TikTok in particular being the focus of her argument.

The decision of his government was made in response to the November stabbing death of a 14-year-old adolescent by a fellow student. The incident was following arguments between the two lads on social media, according to local media. Videos of minors supporting the slaying had also been posted on TikTok.

“The problem today is not our children, the problem today is us, the problem today is our society, the problem today is TikTok and all the others that are taking our children hostage,” Rama declared.

According to TikTok, it was in the process of obtaining “urgent clarification” from the Albanian government.
“We 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,” according to a company representative.