On March 6, the Albanian government approved a one-year ban on access to the social platform TikTok on Albanian territory.
The proposal to close TikTok was submitted by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at the end of last year, reports Radio Free Europe's Kosovo service.
According to the Government, the decision was made after consultations with parents and teachers, and the recommendation to temporarily close this platform was made by an inter-institutional group.
"This is a temporary closure of access to TikTok. We have given a deadline of 12 months to take all necessary measures, in coordination with representatives of this platform, to create conditions so that access does not harm children and young people. The National Cybersecurity Agency will be able to implement this temporary suspension of access to TikTok within a few days or weeks," said Education Minister Ogerta Manastirliu.
She also said that information was received from the state police that a large number of videos and other materials that incite violence and abuse were published on this platform.
According to her, about 65.000 parents participated in more than 1.300 meetings and supported closing or restricting TikTok.
Consultations with parents and teachers began after a primary school student in Tirana was stabbed on November 18, 2024.
On November 18, Martin Cani, a nine-year-old student at the "Fan Noli" school, was stabbed by his peer in the center of Tirana.
After his murder, videos of minors confessing to the murder circulated on TikTok.
Also, after his murder, a photo of the perpetrator, who was arrested, was published, showing the wound he suffered on his hand and showing him raising his hand high.
A few days later, the Government of Albania presented for discussion two proposals to combat the influence of social networks TikTok and Snapchat on children.
Following the government's decision, opposition figure Sali Berisha reacted, saying that the government was censoring the platform during the height of the election campaign. He assessed that the reason was that the government was "afraid of freedom of speech and its influence on young people" and called for protests in Tirana on March 15th.
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