The Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Ramaannounced on Saturday that the TikTok social network, owned by the Chinese group ByteDancewill be closed in the country for at least a year, starting in early 2025.
“TikTok is the neighborhood bully,” Rama declared during a meeting in Tirana with Albanian teachers, parents and psychologists.
“We are going to close it for a year and We are going to begin to implement plans that serve for education of students and help parents follow their children’s path,” he added.
The announcement of the suspension of the controversial social network comes less than a month after a 14-year-old student was killed and another was injured during a fight near a school in Tirana, which occurred after a conflict on social networks.
After this tragedy, a debate broke out in the country between parents, psychologists and educational establishments about the impact of social networks on young people.
“In China TikTok shows how students can follow classes, how to protect nature, how to preserve traditions, but in TikTok outside China we only see filth and garbage. Why do we need this?” Rama lamented.
The application TikTok, which has more than one billion active users around the world, it is particularly popular among young people, attracted by its ultra-short video formats that scroll continuously.
The app surpasses all its competitors in its ability to capture attention.
In 2024 the Android users used it on average 34 hours each monthaccording to a report by We Are Social.
However, this dizzying success is accompanied by criticism. Its detractors accuse TikTok of locking its users into “silos” of content, through an opaque algorithm, and of encouraging the spread of misinformation and illegal, violent or obscene content, especially among young people.
The social network is accumulating controversies around the world, from its ban on teenagers in Australia, to accusations of espionage in the United States, to the European Union, where an investigation has been opened after suspicions of foreign interference in the annulled presidential elections in Romania.
TikTok has been banned since 2020 in India after deadly clashes on the border with China.
