“TikTok is the neighborhood thug”, after the death of a 14-year-old teenager, Albania announces ban on the application for a year

The Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, announced on October 21 that the social network TikTok would be closed in the country for at least one year, from the beginning of 2025.

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. The connection with TikTok? The deadly feud broke out after a conflict on 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.

“TikTok is the neighborhood thug,” the prime minister said 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. “In China, TikTok presents how students can take classes, 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.

Many controversies

Critics of the application accuse it of encouraging the dissemination of disinformation and illegal, violent or obscene content, particularly among young people. Some even think that ByteDance, the Chinese group that owns TikTok, is deliberately leading a campaign to brutalize Western children. An obviously unverifiable accusation.

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 social network is accumulating controversies around the world, from its ban on adolescents in Australia to accusations of espionage in the United States, including the European Union where an investigation has just been opened after suspicions of foreign interference in the canceled presidential election in Romania. TikTok has been banned since 2020 in India, after deadly clashes on the border with China.

In France, the government had the application banned at the time of the riots in New Caledonia on May 15, 2024. This ban aimed to prevent rioters from organizing using the application. It had been possible due to the state of emergency regime. The legality of the decision had been questioned by many observers, the link with terrorism – stipulated in the text of the law, editor’s note – being remote to say the least.

The Albanian situation could therefore not apply, as it stands, to France but the debate around the benefits and dangers of TikTok is more open than ever.