Virgilio Lorenzo Jr

Albania to ban TikTok for a year after fatal youth stabbing

Article (news)

Deutsche Welle

<p>Albania is planning to a one-year ban for social media site TikTok, a popular Chinese short video app, after a teenager was killed last month.</p><p>Prime Minister Edi Rama made the announcement on Saturday following a meeting with parents&#x27; groups and teachers from across the country. He cited a growing concern over the influence of social media on children</p><p>&quot;We are going to chase this thug out of our neighborhood for one year,&quot; Rama said during the meeting.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2024/12/17/one-billion-users-but-controversies-mount-up-for-tiktok-0619">RELATED: One billion users, but controversies mount up for TikTok</a></div><p>&quot;In China, TikTok promotes how students can take courses, how to protect nature, how to keep traditions,&quot; he said, referring to the company&#x27;s home market.</p><p>&quot;On the TikTok outside China we see only scum and mud. Why do we need this? The problem is not the children but our entire society.&quot;</p><div><strong>What incident led to the decision to ban TikTok?</strong></div><p>The ban is part of a bigger plan to help make schools safer within Albania and will come into force in six to eight weeks after the necessary &quot;technical preparations&quot; are made.</p><p>The decision was made less than a month after a 14-year-old student was killed and another injured in a fight near a school in Tirana.</p><p>The fight allegedly developed from an online confrontation on social media. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2024/12/19/us-supreme-court-agrees-to-hear-tiktok-ban-case-0947">US Supreme Court agrees to hear TikTok ban case</a></div><p>Tiktok, which is owned by the Beijing-based ByteDance company, said it was seeking &quot;urgent clarity&quot; from the Albanian government following Saturday&#x27;s announcement.</p><p>It rebuffed some claims that the fight was organized through its social media app.</p><p>&quot;We found no evidence that the perpetrator or victim had TikTok accounts,&quot; a company spokesman said. &quot;Multiple reports have in fact confirmed videos leading up to this incident were being posted on another platform, not TikTok.&quot;</p><div><strong>Which countries have cited concerns over TikTok?</strong></div><p>A number of European countries including Germany, France and Belgium have already imposed restrictions on social media use for children.</p><p>Neighboring countries to Albania such as Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia have recently reported a negative impact which they blame on the platform, especially on youth.</p><p>At least 22 cases of self-harm among girls from different schools in Kosovo reported two months ago were blamed on a TikTok challenge, while two weeks ago, local media in North Macedonia reported a hospital treated dozens of teenagers for injuries sustained after attempting a &quot;Superman&quot; challenge involving being thrown into the air.</p><p>TikTok has also faced accusations of espionage in the United States, while it is under investigation by the European Union over claims it was used to sway Romania&#x27;s presidential election in favor of a far-right candidate.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5RnQlb8Iu_4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Albania is planning to a one-year ban for social media site TikTok, a popular Chinese short video app, after a teenager was killed last month.</p>

Albania is planning to a one-year ban for social media site TikTok, a popular Chinese short video app, after a teenager was killed last month.