Albania joins a growing list of countries banning or temporarily blocking TikTok, with the state declaring a one-year prohibition of the platform.
The decision comes after nationwide protest and government unrest following the November murder of a 14-year-old boy by one of his classmates, who subsequently shared images of the aftermath on Snapchat. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has claimed that social media, but most specifically TikTok, is fostering increasing violence among youth in the country. "TikTok will not exist in the Republic of Albania," said Rama. "TikTok is the thug of the neighborhood. We are going to chase this thug out of our neighborhood for one year."
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In addition to the ban, Rama said the government will introduce new programs to educate children and support parents — the country's leader had been meeting with teachers, students, parents, and psychologists over the last month to address growing fear about social media and children. No further details were provided at the time.
Other countries are exploring stricter laws intended to safeguard minors from social media platforms broadly, working these issues into larger claims for digital and national security. Countries across North America, Europe, and Asia have instituted varying restrictions on TikTok. The U.S. TikTok divestiture requirement, a de facto ban, is set to go into effect on Jan. 19, and is currently set to be appealed in the Supreme Court, with TikTok and others claiming its a violation of free speech. In May, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced a bill that would prohibit social media use for people 13 years and younger.
In November, Australia passed an outright ban on social media use for children under 16 years of age, placing the onus of keeping said users off platforms on social media companies themselves. The ban will apply to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, and YouTube, among others. The U.K. is currently debating a similar social media ban.
Experts, however, are mixed on whether social media bans are the way forward. A major report out of the nonprofit National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine declined to recommend banning platforms, arguing current research into social media's connection to negative mental health outcomes isn't robust enough to suggest a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Instead, the committee argues, legislators should explore strong industry standards and transparency.
