Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Saturday that TikTok would be blocked in the new year, blaming the platform for rising incidents of violence and bullying, especially among young people.
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00:00A decision by Albania's government to suspend the video streaming site TikTok for a year
00:07has been met with anger from some of the platform's users.
00:11Prime Minister Edi Rama said TikTok would be blocked starting next year, blaming the
00:16platform for rising incidents of violence and bullying, especially among young people.
00:22Why is TikTok being blocked?
00:24We don't agree with it, neither do our citizens, because it's not TikTok that is spreading violence
00:32to us, nor is it something that we are using as a means of protection and we are preparing
00:37to spend some free time.
00:39And we don't agree with this, because it's, as they say, a waste of time for us.
00:43I don't think TikTok should be blocked.
00:46We don't agree with it, because it's not TikTok that is spreading violence to us, nor is it
00:50something that we are using as a means of protection and we are preparing to spend some
00:52free time for our citizens.
00:53The decision comes after the death of a teenager in mid-November who was stabbed by another
00:57youth after a quarrel that allegedly started on the video hosting platform.
01:02Edi Rama said TikTok would be fully closed for all and that 90% of parents and teachers
01:07the government spoke to agreed with the decision.
01:11Rama said the shutdown would begin next year but didn't specify a date.
01:15Following Tarana's decision, TikTok asked for urgent clarity from the Albanian government
01:20in the case of the stabbed teenager.
01:23The company said it had found no evidence that the perpetrator or victim had TikTok accounts.
01:30Albanian children comprise the largest group of TikTok users in the country, according
01:35to domestic researchers.
01:37But there's been growing concern among parents after reports of children taking knives to
01:42school or cases of bullying promoted by content they see on TikTok.