TikTok will be blocked in Albania for one year, starting Thursday. The Chinese-owned social media app has roughly 1.5 million users in the Balkan nation.
According to local media, the Albanian Authority for Electronic and Postal Communications has ordered all internet service providers to block access to the app's servers and provide written proof.
The ban was first announced in December by Prime Minister Edi Rama. The decision came after an escalation between teenagers on the platform resulted in a brawl that left a 14-year-old dead and another seriously injured.
The killing triggered discussions on the impact of social media on Albania's youth, with Rama himself calling the app a "neighborhood thug."
But opposition parties have argued against the ban, saying that they rely on the app for campaigning. The next parliamentary elections will be held in May, bringing the timing of the ban into question.
Where else is TikTok banned?Albania will be the first European nation to block the app entirely. But other countries may soon follow suit.
Romanian authorities have called for the app to be suspended amid the ongoing chaos of their recently voided election. Experts credit the app for assisting a far-right candidate's shock win in last year's vote, before the result was annulled by a court.
Other countries have already taken further steps.
In 2020, India banned TikTok citing national security concerns.
Last year, Australia banned access to all social media, including TikTok, for children under 16 years old.
France, meanwhile, temporarily banned the app in New Caledonia, one of its remaining overseas colonies.
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