BelgradecTypeface:> Albania is blocking access to the video platform TikTok for one year from Thursday, Albanian media reported, citing the Authority for Electronic and Postal Communications (AKEP).
Prime Minister Edi Rama announced the TikTok ban in December, although he did not specify at the time when it would come into effect.
TikTok is owned by the Chinese-based company ByteDance. Rama explained that the ban was based on the assertion that content on TikTok poses a danger to children and young people.
Discussion about the potential harmful effects of TikTok emerged in Albania after a 14-year-old pupil was killed in a stabbing incident at the end of last year. The two groups of youths involved had antagonized each other on TikTok and arranged a fight that ultimately turned deadly. The media reports from Wednesday said that the AKEP has instructed all internet service providers in Albania via e-mail to block access to TikTok by Thursday and submit written documentation of their actions to the authority. (DPA)
