Albania to ban social network for at least a year after schoolboy's death

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced on Saturday that the social network TikTok, owned by the Chinese group ByteDance, would be closed in the country for at least a year, from the beginning of 2025. “TikTok is the hoodlum of the neighborhood,” he said. said Edi Rama during a meeting in Tirana with Albanian teachers, parents and psychologists. “We are going to chase this thug out of our neighborhood for a year,” he added.

Alongside the closure of TikTok, the Albanian government will launch programs that “will serve the education of students and help parents follow the path of their children,” said the Prime Minister. 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 injured in a brawl near a school in Tirana, following a conflict over social networks.

Following this tragedy, a debate began in the country between parents, psychologists and schools about the impact of social networks on young people. “In China, TikTok presents how students can take courses, how to protect nature, how to preserve traditions, but on TikTok outside China we only see dirt and mud. Why do we need this? “, lamented Edi Rama.