Teen’s murder drives Albania to ban TikTok for a year 

Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama announced a one-year ban on TikTok in the country, blaming the Chinese-owned platform for inciting violence after a 14-year-old schoolboy was stabbed to death last month by a fellow pupil.

“For one year, we’ll be completely shutting it down for everyone. There will be no TikTok in Albania,” Rama said Saturday. The prime minister accused social media, and TikTok in particular, of fueling violence among youths.

Local media reported that the fatal stabbing of a teenager in November followed a series of arguments between the two boys on social media. After the stabbing, videos surfaced on TikTok showing young people expressing support for the killing.

“The problem today is not our children, the problem today is us, the problem today is our society, the problem today is TikTok and all the others that are taking our children hostage,” Rama said.

TikTok has asked for “urgent clarity from the Albanian government” on the case of the stabbed teenager, the Associated Press reported. The company, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, said it had “found no evidence that the perpetrator or victim had TikTok accounts, and multiple reports have in fact confirmed videos leading up to this incident were being posted on another platform, not TikTok,” according to the AP report.

The ban is expected to come into effect early next year.

Additionally, Albanian authorities increased police presence and instituted closer cooperation with parents as part of a series of protective measures at schools.

Countries in the European Union have been concerned over social media use by children. Several EU countries, such as France, Germany and Belgium, have enforced restrictions on social media use for youth. 

The incoming Polish presidency of the Council of the EU has set mental health of children and adolescents in the context of social media as one of its priorities.