this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2024
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56
Albania declares one-year TikTok ban over stabbing (www.bbc.com)
submitted 4 days ago by tardigrada@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org
27 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Albania's prime minister has announced the government intends to block access to TikTok for one year after the killing of a schoolboy last month raised fears about the influence of social media on children.

Speaking on Saturday Edi Rama declared the proposed ban would start in January.

[...]

The blocking of TikTok comes less than a month after the 14-year-old student was killed and another injured in a fight near a school in southern Tirana which had its roots in a confrontation on social media.

The killing sparked a debate in Albania among parents, psychologists and educational institutions about the impact of social networks on young people.

"In China, TikTok promotes how students can take courses, how to protect nature, how to keep traditions, but on the TikTok outside China we see only scum and mud. Why do we need this?", Rama said.

TikTok is already banned in India, which was one of the app's largest markets before it was outlawed in June 2020. It is also blocked in Iran, Nepal, Afghanistan and Somalia.

TikTok is also fighting against a law passed by the US Congress which would ban the app from 19 January unless it is sold by ByteDance - its Chinese parent

company.

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[–] tardigrada@beehaw.org 17 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

As AP reports on the same issue:

There has been increasing concern from Albanian parents after reports of children taking knives and other objects to school to use in quarrels or cases of bullying promoted by stories they see on TikTok.

Isn't it somewhat strange that Tiktok, whose parent company is forced to closely surveill and censor each politically undesired content in its home country, while it is at the same time not only unable to suppress but reportedly even promotes obviously harmful content on its platforms outside China?

[Edit typo.]

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 6 points 3 days ago

~~TikTok~~ Douyin has also been blamed for promoting harmful content in China... it isn't politically correct to say so in China though, so you won't hear about it on ~~TikTok~~ Douyin.

For reference, the CCP's policies on social media have been swinging wildly, they've made several 180 turns over the years.

[–] NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz 8 points 4 days ago

So weird, you might even think it were the tool of an authoritarian government or something

[–] InevitableList@beehaw.org 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's a huge failing by government regulators. It appears China is the only country capable of policing tech companies adequately.

[–] tardigrada@beehaw.org 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

@InevitableList

Isn't it somewhat strange that Tiktok, whose parent company is forced to closely surveill and censor each politically undesired content in its home country, while it is at the same time not only unable to suppress but reportedly even promotes obviously harmful content on its platforms outside China?

[–] InevitableList@beehaw.org 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Not at all. When google operated a search engine in China it looked nothing like the Google you can access in other countries.

Why would google or tiktok handicap themselves and operate a less profitable, less competitive version of their service when that isn't required by local regulations?

[–] tardigrada@beehaw.org 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

@InevitableList

Your answer has nothing to do with my question.

Isn't it somewhat strange that Tiktok, whose parent company is forced to closely surveill and censor each politically undesired content in its home country, while it is at the same time not only unable to suppress but reportedly even promotes obviously harmful content on its platforms outside China?

[–] InevitableList@beehaw.org 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Because the tail doesn't wag the dog.

You may as well ask why Toyota sells right hand drive cars in Japan and why it sells left hand drive cars in USA?

Why do you think that is?

[–] thelucky8@beehaw.org 6 points 3 days ago

A few days ago I posted an English summary of a German language article about Tiktok in Austria (see this post: https://beehaw.org/post/17463020). There seems to be a clear pattern how Tiktok's algorithm works, and it's not good for the users, let alone teenagers.

[–] lily33@lemm.ee 15 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Now, if only the article explained how that killing was related to TikTok. The only relevant thing I saw was,

had its roots in a confrontation on social media.

It's says "social media", not "TokTok" though.

[–] InevitableList@beehaw.org 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Don't forget this line;

The social media platform told the BBC it had found no evidence the person who allegedly stabbed the 14-year-old boy, or the victim himself, had TikTok accounts.

[–] thelucky8@beehaw.org 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

What else would they say?

[–] InevitableList@beehaw.org 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The truth, duh

[–] thelucky8@beehaw.org 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

https://beehaw.org/u/InevitableList@beehaw.org

A few days ago I posted an English summary of a German language article about Tiktok in Austria (see this post: https://beehaw.org/post/17463020). There seems to be a clear pattern how Tiktok's algorithm works, and it's not good for the users, let alone teenagers.

[–] InevitableList@beehaw.org 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Everything TikTok is accused of is either just a true for other social media/ website or more so. Thanks to Edward Snowden we know for a fact that US tech companies forward your emails and data to the NSA. There is no evidence of Tiktok sharing any data with any government. Yet it's tiktok that get's threatened with bans rather than facebook and gmail.

Instagram is notorious for making girls feel bad about their appearance and pushing them to anorexia and self harm yet no one's proposing to ban it.

[–] thelucky8@beehaw.org 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Did you even clicked the link? Tiktok appears to be part of the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda machine. With each of your comments you open up just the next round of whataboutism. Tankies are doing tankie things. This is waste of time.

[–] InevitableList@beehaw.org 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I commented on your post so yeah I think I managed to click on it. Did you bother to read mine and think of a coherent response before typing? Nah just ignore my efforts to put this in a wider context and dismiss me as a tankie. I'll just dismiss you as racist since you only complain when it's a Chinese company doing it.

I'm all in favour of robust privacy protections like GDPR. I don't support yellow peril bullshit when a Chinese company successfully operates in the same space that US companies do.

[–] thelucky8@beehaw.org 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The linked post in my comment says, among others:

  • All 9 Austrian teenagers between 14 and 17 years of age see radical right-wing propaganda, “free home delivered from China,” as the magazine writes.

  • The young people see Herbert Kickl, the current leader of the far-right Austrian Freedom Party, the avatar of Jörg Haider, a former right-wing politician who died in a car accident in 2008, and Alice Weidel, the head of the far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany - Alternative for Germany).

  • Russian propaganda arises, too, promoting immigration to Russia: “We offer work, a house, a Russian wife and military training,” promises a mock Vladimir Putin to a 15-year-old teenager from Styria, one of Austria’s nine states. Teenagers must apply only at “einbürgerung@kreml.ru”.

  • Donald Trump is doing his ‘Trump Dance’, anti-EU propaganda and pro-Islamic propaganda are as widespread as Quran videos, and, of course, there’s no lack of China’s Xi Jinping.

What has that to do with GDPR, Edward Snowden, and the NSA? What you are doing is blatant whataboutism.

[–] InevitableList@beehaw.org 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The thread is about tiktok being banned in Albania. I thought you might be familiar with Australia's threats to ban tiktok whilst ignoring the crimes other tech companies commit and making no effort to protect Australians from them.

Did you miss the comment I made about Instagram? That was specifically about the content of the site having a negative impact on users.

[–] tardigrada@beehaw.org 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

@InevitableList

I thought you might be familiar with Australia's threats to ban tiktok whilst ignoring the crimes other tech companies commit and making no effort to protect Australians from them.

Are you sure you read the thelucky8's comment?

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 10 points 4 days ago (2 children)

This is like when your parents would take away the power cable to your games for a few days because you and your sibling got into a fight.

[–] tardigrada@beehaw.org 6 points 4 days ago

@Kolanaki@yiffit.net

... the 14-year-old student was killed and another injured ...

[–] masterofn001@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 days ago (3 children)

This is like when the police take away the murder weapon and charge the people responsible for inciting murder because someone killed someone and the murder weapon is a fucking nation state propaganda machine.

[–] derbis@beehaw.org 1 points 1 day ago

I'm sure Amogus and Doom 2 had something to do with it also

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 4 points 3 days ago

This is like when the police throw the murder weapon in jail and avoid charging anyone because it's easier to find a scapegoat instead of holding parents responsible for what they teach their kids.

[–] InevitableList@beehaw.org 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Except no one involved uses tiktok

[–] tardigrada@beehaw.org 2 points 3 days ago

@InevitableList

As AP reports on the same issue:

There has been increasing concern from Albanian parents after reports of children taking knives and other objects to school to use in quarrels or cases of bullying promoted by stories they see on TikTok.

Isn't it somewhat strange that Tiktok, whose parent company is forced to closely surveill and censor each politically undesired content in its home country, while it is at the same time not only unable to suppress but reportedly even promotes obviously harmful content on its platforms outside China?

[Edit typo.]