Govt to block TikTok access for a year

Albania will on Wednesday block access to the video platform TikTok for one year, starting 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 Byte Dance. 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 antagonised each other on TikTok and arranged a fight that ultimately turned deadly.

The media reports 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.

Internet blocks in a country can generally be circumvented by protected network connections, known as Virtual Private Networks (VPN). VPN tunnels can make it appear as though a user is in a different country.