Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 21, 2024
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
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Albania will ban TikTok for a year to enhance school safety after a teenager's death, citing social media's harmful influence.
TIRANA (Reuters) - Albania on Saturday announced a one-year ban on TikTok, the popular short video app, following the killing of a teenager last month that raised fears over the influence of social media on children.
The ban, part of a broader plan to make schools safer, will come into effect early next year, Prime Minister Edi Rama said after meeting with parents' groups and teachers from across the country.
"For one year, we'll be completely shutting it down for everyone. There will be no TikTok in Albania," Rama said.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
Several European countries including France, Germany and Belgium have enforced restrictions on social media use for children. In one of the world's toughest regulations targeting Big Tech, Australia approved in November a complete social media ban for children under 16.
Rama has blamed social media, and TikTok in particular, for fuelling violence among youth in and outside school.
His government's decision comes after a 14-year-old schoolboy was stabbed to death in November by a fellow pupil. Local media had reported that the incident followed arguments between the two boys on social media. Videos had also emerged on TikTok of minors supporting 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.
(Reporting by Florion Goga and Fatos Bytyci; Writing by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Helen Popper)
The main topic is Albania's decision to ban TikTok for a year due to concerns over social media's influence on youth safety.
Albania banned TikTok following a teenager's death, citing social media's role in promoting violence among youth.
Similar to Albania, countries like France, Germany, and Australia have imposed social media restrictions to protect children.
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