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OPINEWS

The closure of TIK TOK, the Electoral Boomerang that will hit Rama on May 11!

Politiko 2025-03-07 11:32:18

The closure of TIK TOK, the Electoral Boomerang that will hit Rama on May 11!

By Franc Nuri

Just like Dictator HOXHA once did, today Rama, with a government decision, (re)imposed CENSORSHIP in Albania. The extreme measure of closing the most used platform by Albanians at home and abroad, the TIKTOK platform, just 2 months before the General Elections of May 11, 2025, shows Edi Rama's absolute fear of free speech, who is using every means to curb the Opposition voice in the country.

The closure of the TIK TOK social network was announced 3 months ago by the regime that has ruled the country for 12 years. But the news that today the TIK TOK application will be closed for 1 year by the Albanian government will turn into an electoral boomerang for Edi Rama.

Launched with the secret idea of ​​censoring free speech on the eve of the electoral campaign for the May 11, 2025 elections, the negative consequences of such an act do not only affect young people, but will also have unimaginable consequences for the Albanian media, which all have official accounts opened on TIKTOK, including Albanian television. Therefore, closing this social network, the most used today in Albania, with a stroke of a pen, indisputably violates the freedom of the media, the fundamental right to free speech and freedom of expression and thought.

Even for thousands of businesses in the country, which use TIK TOK daily for publicity and advertising of their goods and services for free, or contacts with clientele not only in Albania but also in the Region around the world, the impact of censorship will be colossal.  How many bars, restaurants, real estate agencies, travel or tourism agencies, hotels, shops, televisions, shows, portals, or even consulting or legal services use Tiktok today in Albania for marketing? It is difficult to find a business in the country that does not have an account open on TIK TOK.  How much positive marketing has Albania received for tourism in recent years just from foreign bloggers or influencers who used this platform?

Remember that, in conditions where the use of TIK TOK seems to have surpassed that of Facebook and Instagram, and, unlike the latter, the opportunity for free advertising of goods and services on Tiktok, makes this the most used platform in the country and the Region.

There are thousands and thousands of individuals or businesses that use Tiktok for advertising and marketing. Tomorrow, all of these businesses will be severely damaged by the Government's "legal" closure of an application that has been massively used around the world for years. All of these individuals affected by this extreme and disproportionate measure will be votes against this Government on May 11, 2025.

On the other hand, the example of the United States of America showed that even there, although there were debates regarding TIK TOK, US President Mr. Donald TRUMP lifted the planned closure of this platform imposed by the previous administration. Not even in the EU, a space where Albanians have been aspiring to integrate for years, is there any European State that has undertaken such a censorship measure against free speech and freedom of expression and thought.  With these surreal measures, Edi Rama, who in the morning speaks with pathos about the (imaginary) European integration of the country, at noon with the decisions of his government, ranks Albania globally with India, Pakistan, Afghanistan ( where TikTok was closed after the arrival of the Taliban ), Jordan, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, all countries that have officially banned TikTok .

But this incident must be viewed carefully from a constitutional and legal point of view. Democracy and the Rule of Law must guarantee Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Speech and Thought. Therefore, these freedoms cannot be limited in a total and disproportionate manner. Also, our Constitution supposedly guarantees freedom of economic activity, as a principle that cannot be limited disproportionately.

The prohibition of censorship is a minimum condition for a State of Law, the violation of which takes us back to the dark years of the Hoxha dictatorship, when Albanians were punished for listening to the Voice of America on Radio or watching San Remo on TV.

In conditions where everyone clearly understands that the Government's closure of Tiktok does not have the real purpose of what it declares (protecting youth, etc.), but the closure of a platform of freedom that is massively used by the majority of Albanians, in conditions where it cannot control it as it does with 95% of traditional media - I am convinced that the reaction of Albanian citizens will be expressed in the streets with protests on March 15, as well as with votes against this Government in the general elections for the Assembly on May 11.

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