“In the EU,” the statement stressed, “any ban of digital services can be considered as a last resort and in relation to an infringement of the transparency and accountability obligations of the law, not in response to individual issues and pieces of online content.”
The EU is conducting its own investigation under the Digital Services Act, “including in relation to the assessment and mitigation of risk for the physical and mental well-being of users,” the spokesperson added.
The European Commission is currently evaluating the rule of law and civil rights in Albania with an eye toward its accession to the EU — one of Rama’s biggest political goals.
Albania has been an EU candidate country since 2014 and formally opened its accession process in 2022, with a first round of negotiations taking place last October. Rama is aiming for full EU membership by 2030.
Rama insisted that the TikTok ban had not been provoked by a “one-off incident;” was aligned with what the vast majority of parents wanted; and was part of a wider plan to make schools safer that was developed together with schools, teachers and parents.
Rama’s office did not provide technical details on how and when the ban will be enforced. The prime minister said in December that his government had done “all the technological research” and would need six to eight weeks to ensure that TiKTok is no longer accessible in Albania.
“Freedom of speech and marketing opportunities will not cease to exist without TikTok,” Rama told POLITICO.