TikTok returns to Albania after government-imposed ban ends

Record ID: 2359167

  • Title: TikTok returns to Albania after government-imposed ban ends
  • Date: 27th February 2026
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (FEBRUARY 25, 2026) (REUTERS) VIEW FROM A MOVING CAR OF A MAN RIDING A BICYCLE ON AVENUE WITH THE NATIONAL CAPITOL IN THE BACKGROUND VARIOUS VIEWS FROM A MOVING CAR OF MEN RIDING BICYCLES ON STREETS WITH TRAFFIC VIEW FROM A MOVING CAR OF PEOPLE RIDING BICYCLES ALONG THE HAVANA SEAFRONT MALECON VARIOUS PEOPLE RIDING BICYCLES ON AVENUES (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RES
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Albania TikTok social media social media ban
  • Location: TIRANA, ALBANIA
  • City: TIRANA, ALBANIA
  • Country: Albania
  • Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA005846825022026RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: 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 the 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.
    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.
    TikTok was suspended in Albania after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death by a fellow pupil, a crime that local media reports said occurred after the two had clashed online. At the time TikTok said the clash did not originate on their platform.
    It also came weeks before a crunch parliamentary election.
    Albania has been marred in recent months by violent protests between police and the main opposition Democratic Party, demanding the resignation of the government after deputy PM Belinda Balluku was indicted for manipulating public tenders.
    (Production: Fatos Bytyci, Florion Goga, Anna Lubowicka)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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