An almost year-long ban on TikTok by the Albanian government violated freedom of expression and press freedom, Albania’s Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday in a decision praised by journalists.
Tirana (Albania) (AFP) – An almost year-long ban on TikTok by the Albanian government violated freedom of expression and press freedom, Albania’s Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday in a decision praised by journalists.
The Albanian government blocked the billion-user app in March 2025 after the fatal stabbing of a teenager during a fight linked to a social-media dispute.
But the Albanian Journalists Association, an investigative media outlet and an NGO challenged the decision in court, saying the ban breached the constitutional right to free speech.
"It represented a very dangerous precedent for freedom of expression and for the space of public communication in Albania," Albanian Journalists Association representative Isa Myzyraj told AFP.
He praised the ruling as an "important development for the protection of democratic standards in Albania".
In its decision, the court concluded "that the interruption of access to the TikTok platform constitutes a restriction of freedom of expression and freedom of the press".
The government suspended the TikTok ban in early February, but the judges said the case was of "public interest" and that proceedings should continue despite the repeal of the decision under review.
In practice, enforcing the ban proved difficult and raised questions about its effectiveness.
Many Albanian users said they barely noticed the ban, as the app remained accessible via VPNs, or virtual private networks, which enable users to hide their locations.
Esmeralda Plori, a 21-year-old communications student and bar worker in the Albanian capital Tirana, said she had no trouble accessing the platform.
Routing through countries such as Romania or Bulgaria," she said.
Plori called it "absurd" to ban one of the platforms most used by young Albanians "without taking into account how the internet actually works today".
"I'm grateful to the government for enabling 88 percent of Albanians to learn what a VPN is and how it works.
The political importance lies in whether the issue moves from public comment into formal action, party response, court record, election authority notice or administrative decision.
For public institutions and political groups, the next test is whether the issue remains a public argument or turns into a formal response, legal proceeding, administrative instruction or election-related communication.
