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Censorship or youth protection? How foreign media interpret the closure of TikTok
2025-03-14 17:53:38 / AKTUALITET
Prime Minister Edi Rama's decision to shut down TikTok has attracted the attention of international media, which have covered it from different perspectives. Reuters, Euractiv and AFP have reported on the development, raising the question of whether this is a necessary action to protect young people or an act of censorship to silence critics in an election year.
TikTok, the first victim in Europe of a total blockade
According to Euractiv, Albania becomes “the first European country to ban TikTok on a national scale” and “the second in the Western world after the immediate ban by the US in January”. The decision was implemented through the personal order of Edi Rama and is being enforced by national telecommunications and cybersecurity regulators, who have requested from operators “the blocking of TikTok’s unique web addresses and its identification protocols”.
The government has justified the ban on the grounds that it incites violence among young people, such as the murder of 14-year-old Martin Cani, which it says was promoted by social media platforms. But TikTok has disputed this claim, telling Reuters that “the video that led to the violent incident (the murder of a 14-year-old) was posted on another platform, not TikTok.”
Is the TikTok ban censorship?
According to Reuters, the TikTok ban has been met with opposition from the Albanian Journalists Association (AJA), which is threatening to sue the Constitutional Court. “We fear that, in the same way, the government could close other social networks and one day completely ban the internet,” said Isa Myzyraj, head of AJA.
Meanwhile, the opposition has described the decision as an attempt by Prime Minister Edi Rama to silence political opponents, given that TikTok has been an important tool for citizens and activists to express their dissatisfaction. Reuters reports that the Democratic Party has warned of protests against the ban on the social network.
Along the same lines, AFP highlights the fact that "the next parliamentary elections will be held in May, raising doubts about the timing of this decision," as this period is normally very important for the opposition, which needs alternative platforms to communicate with voters.
A global trend or an isolated act?
The closure of TikTok in Albania is not an isolated case. AFP points out that "other countries may follow the same path", citing Romania, where authorities have demanded that the app be banned after the chaos that surrounded the last presidential election, which was won by a pro-Russian candidate who had strong support from sponsorships on TikTok.
Also mentioned are the cases of India, which banned TikTok in 2020 for "national security" reasons, and Australia, which in 2024 banned "access to all social networks for children under 16."
Meanwhile, Euractiv notes that some countries, including France, have undertaken temporary bans, as happened in New Caledonia, a colony of France, where TikTok was blocked for two weeks in May 2024 to curb unrest during a state of emergency.
In Europe, the European Commission and some member states have banned TikTok only on government devices, due to privacy concerns and ByteDance's ties to the Chinese government. But Albania is the first country to go further, banning the app for the entire population.
What will happen now?
In its report, Euractiv suggests that “many Albanians may use VPNs to bypass the ban,” as happened in the US during the temporary ban there. They may also switch to alternative platforms, such as Xiaohongshu (RedNote), a similar Chinese app that was used as a replacement by Americans after TikTok was banned there.
For now, the Albanian government has ordered internet providers to confirm in writing that they have implemented the ban. Reuters quotes a government official as confirming that “once it is completely shut down on the web, the ban will also be extended to the app.”
Censorship or protection of youth?
The Albanian government's decision to ban TikTok has been seen by some as a necessary measure to protect young people, while by others as a step towards restricting freedom of expression. International media point out the fact that the ban comes two months before the general elections, at a delicate political moment, which raises doubts about its real motives.
According to AFP, “TikTok has about 1.5 million users in Albania,” and its ban will have a major impact on the way Albanians communicate and consume content online. Whether Albanians will react against Rama’s decision to close this social network will be seen by the numbers at the protest called by the opposition.
However, it is not surprising that this restriction is accompanied by the usual lethargy that has gripped our society, whenever it comes to freedoms and human rights. With the trust that Albanians have in the intentions of the government and the prime minister, it is not surprising that one day they will learn how Google's server has also crashed... but only for Albania./ Lapsi.al
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