Albania recently allowed TikTok to return. The government let a year-long ban on the popular video app expire this month. This event shows how governments struggle to control the internet, especially when political anger divides a country.
Last year, the Albanian government completely blocked the Chinese-owned app. Officials blamed the platform after a student stabbed a 14-year-old boy to death. Local news outlets reported the two teenagers argued on TikTok before the murder. Today, government leaders claim TikTok finally fixed its safety problems. They say the company added strict security and language filters to protect children. Prime Minister Edi Rama’s office stated the ban successfully pressured the company to improve. TikTok leaders refused to speak about the agreement.
Meanwhile, opposition politicians tell a totally different story. They accuse the ruling party of blocking the app to quiet political enemies just weeks before last year’s elections. Edona Haklaj, a member of a small opposition party, called the shutdown a trick to control voters. Her group holds daily protests outside the Prime Minister’s office. Protesters frequently clash with police officers over government corruption. Citizens demand a new government because prosecutors recently charged the deputy prime minister with rigging public contracts. Prime Minister Rama fired her late Thursday night, but the daily protests continue.
Government officials strongly deny the election cheating claims. They insist they only cared about protecting kids. Yet, local free speech advocates worry about the future. Isa Myzyraj, who leads the Albanian Journalists Association, warned that this action gives the government a dangerous new tool. He fears leaders might exploit this event to block other social networks or cut off internet access during future protests.
In reality, the ban barely worked anyway. Brenton Benja, a local tech expert, explained that citizens simply downloaded virtual private networks, or VPNs, to hide their locations and bypass the block. He estimates that all 1.7 million Albanian users kept watching videos throughout the entire year. Even the government eventually admitted that completely stopping internet users proved impossible.
