TikTok returns to Albania after government-imposed ban
The Straits Times
TIRANA, Feb 27 - Social media platform TikTok is back in Albania after a year-long ban expired this month, in a case illustrating the complexity of imposing bans in a politically fragmented region and sparking questions over online safety and censorship. Read more at straitstimes.com.
TIRANA, Feb 27 - Social media platform TikTok is back in Albania after a year-long ban expired this month, in a case illustrating the complexity of imposing bans in a politically fragmented region and sparking questions over online safety and censorship.
The ban, imposed last year and ostensibly linked to the death of a teenage boy after bullying online, saw Chinese-owned short video platform TikTok banned for all users. The government says TikTok has now tightened safety measures sufficiently.
But the case is complex in a country hit by unrest over political corruption and where the ruling party is in an unprecedented fourth term in power. Opposition parties accuse the government of trying to silence them by banning the platform weeks before parliamentary elections last year.
The government of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama told Reuters that TikTok had taken steps to address issues that it had raised and said the ban helped put pressure on the platform.
"With its correct behavior toward our concerns, TikTok confirmed to us the expression that 'the devil is not as black as it seems'," the government said in a statement, adding it had put in place "important filters for security and language".
TikTok declined to comment. The government said there was "no connection" between the TikTok ban and election interference and that the "only goal" had been to protect children.
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