The stabbing death of a teenage boy – killed by a fellow classmate after an argument on TikTok – has triggered a full one-year ban of the Chinese-owned video app in Albania, the first European nation to take such measures.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced the ban on Saturday, about a month after the tragedy took place, citing the social media platform’s harmful influence on children.
The “carefully considered” ban will come into effect early next year, said Rama, who had met with parents' groups and teachers from across the country to talk about school safety.
According to Rama, “over 90% of parents” in the democratic nation are “demanding the banning of TikTok.”
"For (at least) one year, we'll be completely shutting it down for everyone. There will be no TikTok in Albania," Rama said.
🇦🇱The ban on TikTok for (at least) 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.
undefined Edi Rama (@ediramaal) December 22, 2024
TikTok has no grounds to demand clarifications from Albania…
According to local media, the 14-year-old victim and another student had been arguing on social media before the stabbing took place.
After the incident, other students on TikTok began to post their own videos showing support for the perpetrator's actions.
TikTok denies responsibility (as usual)
Albania’s Prime Minister has blamed social media, including TikTok in particular, for fuelling violence among young children and teens, both on and off school grounds.
"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 said.
“While Albania may be too small to demand that TikTok protects children and youth from the frightening pitfalls of its algorithm, we sincerely hope TikTok will take this step for the benefit of humanity.”
“Either TikTok protects the children of Albania, or Albania will protect its children from TikTok,” he said.
Countries Where TikTok is Banned:
undefined kos_data (@kos_data) December 21, 2024
🇦🇱 Albania (starting 2025)
🇦🇫 Afghanistan
🇨🇳 China (use Douyin instead)
🇮🇳 India
🇮🇷 Iran
🇯🇴 Jordan
🇰🇵 North Korea
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan
🇳🇵 Nepal
🇸🇳 Senegal
🇸🇴 Somalia
🇸🇾 Syria
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan pic.twitter.com/hHcOL4JJGB
Since Saturday's announcement, TikTok has questioned its platforms’ involvement, and said it was seeking "urgent clarity" from Albanian officials.
"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," a spokesperson for the ByteDance subsidiary said.
Rama further responded to TikTok’s comments on X, stating that the social media app "has no grounds to demand clarifications from Albania because, it is Albanians who make the decisions, not the owners of TikTok’s algorithm."
“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,” he said.
Western nations, such as France, Germany, and Belgium, have recently enforced their own restrictions on social media use for children, but a full ban on any social media platform has not taken place in Europe.
Before Albania, Australia had the most restrictive social media policy regarding kids. Just approved in November, lawmakers there enacted a full ban on all social media use for children under 16.
And a bill signed into law by President Joe Biden in April, the US has given TikTok’s parent company ByteDance until January 19th to divest the short video app or face a ban across the nation. TikTok filed an emergency appeal last week.
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