The Prime Minister of Albania has announced that the government will close the video service TikTok for one year, accusing it of inciting violence and bullying, especially among children.
Albanian authorities have held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents following the death of a teenager in mid-November who was stabbed to death by another teenager after an argument that allegedly began on the video hosting platform.
Prime Minister Edi Rama, speaking at a meeting with teachers and parents, said that TikTok “will be completely closed to everyone. There will be no TikTok in the Republic of Albania.”
Rama said the closure would begin next year, but did not specify a date.
In an emailed response to a request for comment, TikTok asked for “urgent clarification from the Albanian government” on the case of the stabbed teenager.
The company stated that it “did not find any evidence that the perpetrator or the victim had TikTok accounts, and numerous reports confirm that the videos leading up to the incident were posted on a platform other than TikTok.”
According to domestic researchers, Albanian children make up the largest group of TikTok users in the country.
Albanian parents are increasingly concerned about reports of children bringing knives and other objects to school to use in fights, or about bullying incidents facilitated by content they see on TikTok.
According to Rama, TikTok’s activities in China, where its parent company ByteDance is based, are different, “promoting how to learn better, how to preserve nature, and so on.”
Albania is too small a country to impose an algorithm change on TikTok so that it does not contribute to “reproducing an endless hell of hate speech, violence, bullying, and so on,” Rama’s office writes.
The authorities have developed a number of protective measures in schools, starting with an increased police presence, educational programs and closer cooperation with parents.
Rama said that Albania will monitor the reaction of the company and other countries to the year-long closure before deciding whether to allow the company to resume operations in Albania.
But not everyone agreed with the decision to close TikTok.
“The dictatorial decision to close the social network TikTok is a serious act against freedom of speech and democracy,” said Ina Zupa, a member of the main opposition Democratic Party.
“This is a pure electoral act and an abuse of power to suppress freedoms.”
Albania’s decision comes after several European countries, including France, Germany and Belgium, have imposed restrictions on children’s access to social media.
And in November, Australia went even further, banning social media completely for all young people under the age of 16.
