I have to explain to foreign brands that I cannot post on TikTok because the platform is blocked in Albania.”
Elvi Nuhu, 27, is a content creator in Tirana. Having amassed 115,000 followers on TikTok, he makes a living from social media. Speaking to iMEdD, he sounds anxious.
“The biggest problem is with foreign brands that want to sponsor their products or services on my TikTok. Because maybe foreign brands don’t know the situation in Albania,” he explains.
In early March, the Albanian government announced a year-long ban on TikTok, citing concerns over protecting minors from violent content and hate speech. The government decision began to be implemented gradually after March 13.
Opposition politicians in Albania, civil society members, and journalists who spoke to iMEdD argue that Prime Minister Edi Rama’s real objective is to silence government critics and manipulate the upcoming elections in May.
But preferably not 2 months before the election
Depends how you look at it. If enemy states are actively leveraging their social networks to undermine democracy in your country, 2 months before the election may be the perfect time to ban US/Chinese commercial social networks.
In that case you could argue that it is the perfect time, but that is not happening in this case. The current government sees this particular medium as a threat because of the users on it, not because of the owners.
That’s fair.
I was just trying to point that American attitudes (theatrical polemics claiming some sort allegiance to free speech) around social networks are not always applicable or desirable.
In my own country, Ukraine, we banned all Russian social networks and internet services in 2014 after they invaded. This is a reasonable action.
Banning all Russian social networks and internet services in Ukraine seems like a smart decision, definitely. When it comes to TikTok it is less clear to me what a good decision would be, but the fact a foreign and potentially hostile state can influence the people is a serious threat.
That seems pretty clear to me.
Thats exactly when you should do it tho…
We know that TikTok is being used to manipulate elections in favor of right wing parties on a global scale. Why the fuck would you not ban it is the question? It doesnt matter if some left wing stuff gets taken down by that as a side effect, because right wing stuff will always have more viewership on it. The net outcome of banning tiktok is always in favor of left wing voices.
I don’t think you understand the quote you use. What is in the article and in your quote of the article is thataccording to the opposition (and others) the current government is banning TikTok to silence critics and manipulate the upcoming elections.
Then you mention how TikTok is being used to manipulatie elections … on a global scale. I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, but in this case the banning of a social media platform is similar to how governments suppress newspapers and tv-channels because they are a threat to the ruling party.
This is not about foreign agents influencing elections, this is about a local power suppressing their people.
I understand that their motivation is to suppress opposition. What im saying is that banning tiktok wont have that effect, but the opposite. Im saying the opposition will actually benefit from moving to a different, more neutral platform in response to this ban.
Trying to fight for attention on a biased platform like tiktok is a waste of energy. Its like swimming upstream.