TIRANA: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has announced plans to block access to the social media platform TikTok for a year, starting in 2025.
“We are going to chase this thug out of our neighbourhood for one year”, Rama said while speaking in a meeting with Albanian teachers, parents and psychologists in Tirana.
He told the participants of the meeting that the government would launch programmes to “serve the education of students and help parents follow their children’s journey”.
The government’s decision to block the social media website came on the back of an incident almost a month ago where a 14-year-old student was killed and another injured in a fight near a school in Tirana.
The scuffle had developed from an online confrontation on social media.
The killing sparked a debate in the country among parents, psychologists and educational institutions about the impact of social networks on young people.
“In China, TikTok promotes how students can take courses, how to protect nature, how to keep traditions,” said Rama.
“But on the TikTok outside China we see only scum and mud. Why do we need this?”
Several countries have begun debating measures against TikTok, part of a wider debate on the influence of social media on vulnerable groups, such as children and adolescents.
“The problem is not the children but our entire society,” Rama argued.
TikTok’s controversial ‘challenges’
TikTok’s huge global success has been partly built on the appeal of its “challenges” — an interactive call that invites users to create videos featuring dances, jokes or games that sometimes go viral.
The platform attracts young people with a never-ending scroll of ultra-brief videos. It has more than one billion active users worldwide.
Neighbouring countries such as Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia have also reported a negative impact of the platform, especially on the youth.
At least 22 cases of self-harm among girls from different schools in Kosovo southwestern city of Gjakova reported two months ago were blamed on a TikTok challenge.
Two weeks ago, local media in North Macedonia reported that hospital there had treated dozen of teenagers for injuries sustained after attempting the “Superman” TikTok challenge.
It involves one child leaping on to the linked arms of a few others.
And in Serbia, in the southwestern city of Novi Pazar there were reports that children in several high schools had taken part in a “choking” challenge.
A search for this on TikTok now produces a warning message from the platform that some challenges can be dangerous, and links to a short guide on how to spot them.
TikTok has faced accusations of espionage in the United States, and is under investigation by the European Union over claims it was used to sway Romania’s presidential election in favour of a far-right candidate.
The platform also has been banned for use by personnel in state institutions in several countries.
AFP, among more than a dozen other fact-checking organisations, is paid by TikTok in several countries to verify videos that potentially contain false information.
