TIRANA (Reuters) – TikTok users in Albania are experiencing difficulties accessing the popular short video app after a one-year government ban took effect on Thursday, prompted by concerns that social media is fuelling youth violence in and outside school.
Albania’s move follows bans or partial bans in at least 20 other countries amid worries about improper videos or security concerns linked to TikTok owner ByteDance and its proximity to the Chinese government.
Some users in Albania said they were unable to access the platform via web browsers after midday.
“I can see that TikTok is no longer accessible on the web but the app is still working, for now,” said Ermal Hoxha, 28, from Tirana. Each time he tried to access the site, he received an error message: “This site can’t be reached. Check if there is a typo in www.tiktok.com.”
Similar issues were reported by other users and a government official told Reuters that after web browsers the ban will be extended to include the app too.
Albania’s National Authority for Cybersecurity (AKSK) has ordered all internet providers in the country to submit written confirmation that TikTok will be turned off by Thursday.
The decision to ban TikTok was made last December, a month after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death by a fellow pupil following arguments on social media.
TikTok had said it was seeking further clarification from the Albanian government since their findings allegedly showed that the “videos leading up to this incident (the stabbing) were being posted on another platform, not TikTok”.
CENSORSHIP?
Isa Myzyraj, the head of the Association of Journalists in Albania (AJA), said the group would take the case to the Constitutional Court, arguing that the ban restricts freedom of expression and constitutes censorship.
“We fear that, in the same way, the government may also shut down other social networks and one day even ban the internet entirely,” Myzyraj said.
Opposition parties have accused Prime Minister Edi Rama of seeking to silence dissent by shutting down a platform often used to voice criticism, especially when – in their view – the government is increasing its control of mainstream media. Rama’s government denies this accusation.
The Democratic Party, the largest opposition party, has called for a protest on Saturday in front of the government offices to oppose the TikTok ban.
Rama has accused the app of showing videos outside China of “only scum and scoundrels”.
(Reporting by Florion Goga and Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Gareth Jones)
