Click Economy: What does Albania lose with the closure of TikTok?

At the end of December, Prime Minister Rama announced the closure of the TikTok platform in Albania for one year, attributing to this platform the extreme acts of violence that have affected Albanian youth, as well as linking this platform to harmful content circulating on the network.

During his speech, Rama stated that the social platform was harmful to young people.

"TikTok is the 'neighborhood streetwalker' that we fear the child will associate with when leaving the house," Rama said during his speech, adding that they had done all the research in terms of technology before making the decision to close the platform.

TikTok is a social platform that offers numerous opportunities for creativity and entertainment, making it particularly attractive to the younger generation. It is often criticized for exposing young people to inappropriate content, reinforcing a culture of social comparison and pressure to meet certain aesthetic or social standards.

However, artists, journalists and activists interviewed by BIRN, who use the TikTok platform to share ideas and promote their talent, as well as the opportunity to learn through educational and entertaining content, disagree with the head of government's decision.

According to them, shutting down TikTok would not improve security in the country or reduce violence among young people. On the other hand, they emphasize that it would cost users a lot to lose the audience they have built up over the years.

Tik Tok, the platform of opportunities

TikTok is a social platform for sharing short videos, created by the Chinese company ByteDance in 2016. Users can create and share videos with music, various effects, and filters, making the app particularly attractive to younger age groups.

In Albania, TikTok has gained immense popularity, with over 1.5 million users. According to a report by Kepios, 35% of these users are between the ages of 12 and 25, making this age group the dominant user of the platform.

This rapid growth in users has led to discussions about the platform's impact on society, especially regarding the content being promoted and the potential effects on Albanian youth.

Brenton Bënja, technology journalist and founder of the media outlet 'GeekRoom Albania', told BIRN that social networks are vital to the work of their digital media outlet founded in 2018.

“We use TikTok, Instagram, YouTube to reach our audience,” he said. “Since that’s where the most active users are, TikTok is particularly important for us because it allows us to reach a younger and more dynamic audience, with educational content but also with the creative formats that this platform enables,” Bënja said.

Postimet dhe lajmet teknologjike të GeekRoom kanë arritur një audiencë prej 120 mijë ndjekësish, por themeluesi Bënja shprehet se 60% të tyre janë në platformën TikTok.

“Postimet tona në TikTok kanë arritur me miliona shikime dhe janë bërë pjesë e bisedave të ndryshme të teknologjisë,” tha Brenton. “Kemi njerëz që e mbështesin çdo ditë punën tonë dhe informohen nga videot që ne publikojmë,” shtoi ai.

Ngjashëm, edhe Marin Hoxha, aktor dhe komediani 23-vjeçar nga Tirana, shprehet se audienca që ka në TikTok nuk mund të krahasohet me atë të rrjeteve të tjera sociale.

“TikTok ka qenë rrjeti që më ka bërë më të njohur, ndërsa Instagramin e kam përdorur si diçka formale më shumë për t’u kontaktuar,” tha Marini për BIRN.

Ai shtoi se suksesin më të madh ia ka dhënë platforma TikTok, duke e ndihmuar të marrë edhe projekte të tjera jashtë spektrit të platformës, çka është edhe synimi i tij afatgjatë.

“Nuk e kam monetizuar TikTok-un, e bëj për pasion dhe më pëlqen që vala e admirimit dhe dashurisë sa vjen e po shtohet,” Marini për BIRN. “Kjo më ka bërë të mos ndaloj,” shtoi ai.

Edhe Matias Ndini, regjizor dhe themelues i studios multimediale “MBN Pictures”, pranon se i është dashur një punë disavjeçare për të ndërtuar audiencën e përkushtuar që tanimë ka në rrjetet sociale.

“Me futjen e marketingut të fuqishëm dhe me ikjen e televizionit si reklamim për bizneset e ndryshme, media sociale është kryesuese në çdo lloj gjëje të jetës sonë,” tha Matias për BIRN.

Ai shprehet se studioja e tij ka prezencë në të tëra rrjetet sociale, por TikTok i ka mundësuar të arrijë një gamë më të gjerë njerëzish.

“Na u desh të futeshim në TikTok në fillim si studio dhe patëm një vrull shumë të madh si fillim me editimet që kryenim, filluam të bëjmë video jo vetëm për biznes, por edhe video ‘funny’ që mund të arrinin target grupe të ndryshme,” kujton Matiasi mbi fillimet e biznesit të tij.

“Filluam duke treguar pjesët tona më të mira, por në një mënyrë që e kërkonte media sociale, sigurisht brenda limiteve tona, pa tejkaluar në ofendime, sharje apo bullizëm,” tha Ndini, ndërsa theksoi se mund të tërheqësh audiencë edhe pa i shkelur limitet e etikës.

Problemi i dhunës tek shoqëria

Gjatë viteve të fundit ka shumë krijues të përmbajtjes digjitale në gjuhën shqipe që vazhdimisht po zhvillohen dhe po rriten në popullaritet. Krijuesit e përmbajtjes në YouTube, Instagram, TikTok dhe platforma të tjera sociale ofrojnë përmbajtje të ndryshme si vlogje, tutoriale, komedi, muzikë, dhe shumë të tjera.

Këta profesionistë të rinj, të cilët mundohen të ngrenë një urë lidhëse midis artit, punës dhe ndjekësve të tyre, ndryshe nga qeveria, nuk e shohin problemin e dhunës apo materialeve të dëmshme tek TikTok, por tek shoqëria shqiptare dhe edukimi familjar.

Regjizori Matias Ndini i tha BIRN se të mbyllësh TikTok është një lloj censure, e kamufluar prapa arsyeve të përmbajtjeve të dhunshme.

"While on the META platform you can censor more simply through Bots, you can't do this on TikTok, so this may be the reason why they want to close it, but disguised with the problems that have occurred in Albania recently," he said.

"The government is shutting it down for the wrong reasons, you can't shut down an app where businesses are 100% affected, where artists and various professionals are being recognized on TikTok for their pure profession by advertising what they do," Ndini added.

Actor Marin Hoxha also admits that with the closure of TikTok, he would lose his entire audience and a year and a half of work, without the possibility of regaining followers.

"It seems to me to be a bit of an absurd and radical decision, how can you explain to people who are trying with all their heart and soul to do something good, and then eliminate them along with the negative elements," Marini told BIRN.

He considers TikTok a communication tool like any other, and according to him, communication tools in themselves are never bad.

“You can't blame the vehicle any more than you can blame the people and the mentality of the people on that platform,” Marin Hoxha told BIRN.

Brenton Bënja, founder of GeekRoom, thinks similarly, emphasizing that what happens on TikTok actually reflects what happens in society.

"Shutting down TikTok is not the right solution because the problems of violence and inappropriate content in my opinion are societal problems and not platform problems," he asserted.

According to the founder of 'GeekRoom Albania', violence and problematic behaviors have deeper roots and cannot be solved by closing a social network.

"TikTok reflects what is happening in society, so the solution must start from the family, from school, and then education on the use of technology," he added.

Actor Marin Hoxha told BIRN that by closing TikTok, he would not only lose his fans and audience, but it would also not change the situation of violence in the country.

"I don't think the news we see every day will change after the day TikTok closes," he said, adding that it's not the app that causes violence, it's the mass of people who use it.

"It's like a society that has both good and evil, you decide to wipe out the existence with the aim of eliminating the bad elements, while along with them you are also eliminating all the values ​​that are coming into this society. This doesn't make sense," Hoxha concluded./BIRN