Following a one-year ban on TikTok by the Albanian government, users in the country have been experiencing difficulty accessing the platform after the implementation of the ban began on Thursday. The ban follows concerns that the social media platform is instigating youth violence in and outside school.
TikTok users in Albania complained that they were unable to access the short video content platform through web browsers after mid-Thursday.
“I can see that TikTok is no longer accessible on the web but the app is still working, for now,” said Ermal Hoxha, as cited by Reuters. Each time the user tried to access the site, he received an error message: “This site can’t be reached. Check if there is a typo in www.tiktok.com.” Similar cases were also reported by other users.
A government official, in a conversation with Reuters, noted that the ban would be extended to the app following the blockage on the web browser.
Albania’s decision to ban TikTok was made in December 2024, a month after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death by a fellow pupil following arguments on social media.
The country’s National Authority for Cybersecurity (AKSK) had ordered all internet providers in the country to submit written confirmation that TikTok will be turned off by Thursday, March 13.
In response, TikTok has noted that it was seeking further clarification from the Albanian government since their findings allegedly showed that the “videos leading up to this incident (the stabbing) were being posted on another platform, not TikTok“.
The country’s move on the platform follows recent ban actions from almost 20 countries, prompted by claims of improper videos and security concerns linked to the platform’s parent company – ByteDance – and its link to the Chinese government.
Recall that for months now, TikTok has been caught in a dilemma over the US “sell or ban” policy. This follows years of allegations from the U.S. government that TikTok’s ties to China pose a national security risk and that it exposes Americans’ sensitive information to the Chinese government.
Subsequently, the social media company has been battling for months with a bill signed into law by President Biden in April 2024. The move mandates ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations to another owner by January 19 or face a ban that will halt its download on download App stores.
Similar Read: “I don’t have plans to acquire TikTok”- Elon Musk responds to purchase claims.
TikTok’s ban – claims of free speech infringement
Following the ban, the head of the Association of Journalists in Albania (AJA), Isa Myzyraj said the pressure group would take the case to the Constitutional Court, on grounds that the ban restricts freedom of expression and constitutes censorship.
“We fear that, in the same way, the government may also shut down other social networks and one day even ban the internet entirely,” Myzyraj said.
Opposition parties have also accused Prime Minister Edi Rama of promoting abuse of free speech by shutting down a platform often used to voice criticism.
In his opinion, the move comes when the government is increasing its control of mainstream media. Rama’s government had denied this accusation where it accused the app of showing videos of “only scum and scoundrels”
The largest opposition party in Albania, the Democratic Party, has called for a protest on Saturday in front of the government offices to oppose the TikTok ban.
In a similar youth protection case, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) recently ordered TikTok to immediately remove all sexual content involving minors from its platform, including livestreams.
The move comes in response to a damning investigation by the BBC that uncovered widespread child exploitation on TikTok in Kenya which has sparked widespread concerns about the platform’s content moderation practices and its compliance with child protection laws in Africa.
The BBC report, titled “TikTok Profiting from Sexual Livestreams in Kenya Involving Children,” published on March 3, 2025, exposed disturbing cases of minors as young as 15 engaging in sexualized livestreams on TikTok.
The investigation revealed that young women in Kenya have been using the platform to advertise and negotiate payments for explicit content, which is then shared through other messaging services.
The African country condemned the violations highlighted in the report, emphasizing that they breach the Kenyan and international laws designed to protect children and ensure online safety.
Technext Newsletter
Get the best of Africa’s daily tech to your inbox – first thing every morning.
Join the community now!
