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Albania has lifted its nearly year-long ban on TikTok, the government announced Thursday, saying the popular video-sharing platform had introduced “new safety mechanisms.”
Access to TikTok, which has more than 1 billion users worldwide, had been blocked in Albania since March 2025 after a teenager fatally stabbed a classmate during a fight that authorities said was sparked by a dispute on social media.
“The lifting of these measures follows an institutional reassessment and the platform’s consideration of the government’s concerns,” Albania’s media and information agency said in a statement.
The agency said TikTok has developed new safety mechanisms, including “protective filters through keywords, content controls” and revised procedures for reporting violations in coordination with Albanian authorities.
“This decision marks the transition from restrictive measures to a phase of active monitoring, interinstitutional cooperation and shared responsibility with digital platforms,” the statement said.
The government did not clarify the extent of its involvement in the filtering process or how the measures would function in practice.
The decision to lift the ban, taken earlier this week, comes as the suspension faces a legal challenge.
A lawsuit filed in March by the Albanian Journalists Association, an investigative media outlet, and a civil society organization argues that the ban violated constitutional protections for freedom of expression. A ruling is expected Feb. 23.
Opposition parties also protested the ban, which was imposed shortly before parliamentary elections in May that were won by Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party.
Despite the restrictions, access to TikTok remained possible throughout the ban, including through the use of virtual private networks.
TikTok, known for short and often addictive videos, has frequently faced criticism over issues ranging from data privacy to its potential role in influencing elections.
Several countries have taken steps in recent months to curb the platform’s use, citing concerns over its impact on children and adolescents.
In December, Australia became the first country to ban users under 16 from accessing several social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, a move that has since drawn interest from other governments.
Despite the lifting of the ban, the group challenging it said it would continue its legal action to prevent similar measures in the future.
“The Constitutional Court must rule so that the government can no longer arbitrarily shut down platforms,” Blerjana Bino, director of the Tirana-based Science and Innovation for Development think tank, told AFP.
She said the ban had been “problematic from the outset” and may have affected “democratic communication, particularly during the election campaign.”
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