The Chinese application was banned for a year after the death of a 14-year-old teenager.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that he had initiated a ban on TikTok for at least one year in his country. A decision taken after a meeting with representatives of teachers and parents from across the country.
“TikTok is the neighborhood thug”, who only spreads “filth and mud”, declared Rama before adding: “We will expel this scum from our country for a year. There will be no TikTok in Albania,” the Prime Minister decided.
“In more than 1,300 meetings we had with parents across the country, attended by more than 65,000 parents, 90% of them called for TikTok to be shut down. This is why we decided to ban it for a year,” added Edi Rama this Sunday.
The death of a teenager directly linked to TikTok?
The ban comes almost a month after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death and another was injured in a fight outside a school in Tirana, the Albanian capital.
A brawl which would be the direct result of a previous clash on social networks, according to several Albanian media. A violent altercation broadcast via TikTok which created debate in Albania.
“The problem is not our children, the problem is us, the problem is our society, the problem is TikTok and all those who take our children hostage,” continued pissed off the Albanian Prime Minister.
The measure will be effective in February, according to the Albanian government. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, reacted indicating that “several reports have confirmed that the videos at the origin of this incident were posted online on other platforms, and not only on TikTok”.
Almost everywhere in the world, TikTok is at the center of tensions. The Chinese app is already banned in India and may be banned in the United States from January 19. In Australia, TikTok is prohibited for those under 16, just like Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat.
