Albania closes the Chinese Tiktok application for a year to protect minors

The Government of Albania, headed by the socialist Edi Rama, has banned the use of the Chinese application of short videos Tiktok, under the argument that it intends to protect minors. The law was approved last Thursday by the Council of Ministers and is expected to enter into force this Saturday. The government began studying the idea after the murder of Martin Canit, a 14 -year -old boy stabbed by another of his age, after a dispute on social networks on November 18 in Tirana, capital of the country.

After the murder, videos circulated in the networks where some teenagers extolled the author of the crime. However, the Chinese company Bytedance, owner of Tiktok, issued a statement in which he warned that he had not established “no proof” that the author and the victim exchanged messages through Tiktok. And claimed that there were “videos prior to the incident published on other social networks.”

The Government, despite these allegations, held meetings with parents associations and in December announced that as of January this year, Tiktok would prohibit for a year. The Minister of Education, Ongerta Manastirliu, wrote on December 22 in her social network account X: “To say that the murder of the adolescent student has nothing to do with Tiktok, because the conflict was not generated by Tiktok is not to understand the severity of the threat that this platform represents for children and young people of our time.” And he concluded: “Tiktok must protect the children of Albania or Albania will protect their children from Tiktok.”

Finally, Prime Minister Rama released a message on March 6 through the social network X where he warned that the closing decision had been taken after a “wide consultation with 65,000 parents and teachers.” And he added that his government is in “a very positive dialogue with the company” China owner of the application. “(…) will soon come to Albania to present a series of measures to increase the safety of minors, even in the Albanian language, and some innovations in the service and studies service.” This newspaper asked a government spokesman for several questions about the decision adopted, but the executive refused to answer them.

Extraordinary impact

Tiktok, founded in 2017, is permanently in the Top 10 in downloads in the main Western countries. In Spain this 2025 has between positions 4 and 10. Its impact is extraordinary, especially in younger generations. Its success exceeds pure entertainment and is increasingly used to inform itself.

In the midst of that success, Tiktok has had problems with governments around the world, basically for two reasons: first, because the authorities fear that the download of the application in the Government members devices allow China to sniff and capture data from those devices. Australian officials, the United Kingdom, France or the European Union, among others, have access limited. The second reason why it has had problems, and perhaps the most important, is because the algorithm that decides what videos teaching each user can be subtly modified to show more information from one trend or another. Also, as in Albania, she has been accused of promoting a type of violence, especially among young and minors.

In Albania, however, most of the Albanian opposition parties have accused Rama, of practicing the “censorship” a few weeks after legislative elections are held, scheduled for May 11. The Democratic Party, conservative training with the largest number of opposition deputies, has called a protest for this Saturday, March 15. Its leader, Sali Berisha, described the measure as a “brutal act” that shows the “intolerance” of the prime minister. Berisha added that the justification of the president is “false” and that the true reason to ban it for a year is that Tiktok is a “extremely attractive and convenient” media where young people “criticized and mocked” by Edi Rama.

Albania has been candidate for the European Union since 2014. Jorida Tabaku, deputy of the Democratic Party and president of the Commission for Affairs of the European Union, points out through videoconference that freedoms and access to the media are one of the main problems of her country to integrate into the EU. “The traditional media, mostly supporters of the government, control 90% of the market. Therefore, Tiktok has also become a tool for opposition. Because the Socialist Party has created a whole network to control the messages on Facebook. Every public employee is obliged to share the information that ministers and directors publish on Facebook. The only networks that the government cannot control are Tiktok and Instagram, which has less influence. ”

Azmer Asceviç, leader of the formation called Shqipëria Bëhet, said by WhatsApp that less than three months after the elections there are “new opposition forces”, such as yours, which are very popular in Tiktok. “And this represents a threat to the prime minister in power after 12 years.” Asuleviç ensures that most young people will make fun of the prohibition through the use of VPN (Virtual Private Networks or virtual private networks).

The possible prohibition of Tiktok that has caused the most debate has been the American. The Congress approved in April 2024 a new law that forced Bytedance to sell Tiktok to a new US owner or close their operations in the country. The application ended up closing a few hours in January of this year but finally the new president, Donald Trump, proposed a 75 -day extension for Bytedance to find a solution. Other countries, such as India or Taiwan, have chosen the prohibition route for their open conflicts with China. Beyond the possible political influence, the distribution of the advertising cake that Tiktok controls today is huge.

The case with suspicions of more recent Tiktok influence has been during the presidential elections in Romania. The populist and proruso candidate Calin Georgescu emerged from nothing to win surprisingly in the first round of November. The apparent main reason was that Tiktok had given “preferential treatment” to Georgescu. The elections were annulled and the candidate cannot appear anymore.

The president of the Association of Journalists of Albania, Isa Myzyraj, explains by telephone from Tirana that his organization has filed an appeal before the Constitutional Court of the country. Consider that the decision is “unjustified and extreme, feel a dangerous precedent and brings Albania to authoritarian regimes.” His association holds in a statement: “Since most media in Albania are under government control, social networks remain the only platform where journalists and activists can express themselves freely and stay informed.”