Albania to ban TikTok for 1 year following fatal teen stabbing

Albania prime minister Edi Rama has announced a one-year ban of popular social media platform, TikTok, following the stabbing of 14-year-old boy, which resulted in his death.

"For one year, we’ll be completely shutting it down for everyone. There will be no TikTok in Albania," Rama said, according to Al-Jazeera on Dec. 21, 2024.

Fatal stabbing case

According to the BBC, the stabbing case occurred about a month before the prime minister's announcement, near a school in southern Tirana, the capital city of Albania.

One 14-year-old was killed and another injured in a fight which had its roots in social media.

TikTok told the BBC that they had found "no evidence" that either the victim or the alleged killer had TikTok accounts.

They said they were seeking "urgent clarifications" from the Albanian government about the ban.

Ban to kick in January 2025

Rama met with a group of teachers, parents and psychologists following the stabbing and called TikTok the "thug of the neighbourhood."

"We are going to close it for a year and we are going to start rolling out programmes that will serve the education of students and help parents follow their children's journey," he said.

According to the BBC, the ban will start in January 2025.

However, an opposition representative in Albania, Ina Zhupa, called the prime minister's decision "dictatorial" and a "grave act against freedom of speech and democracy", Al-Jazeera reported.

TikTok has come under scrutiny in recent years, with countries like India and Nepal banning the popular app, and Australia and the European Union forbidding government workers from using it.

Also in January 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments challenging a looming government order that would compel TikTok's parent company ByteDance, which is based in China, to sell the app or otherwise face a de facto ban in the U.S.

Top image from Unsplash.