The use of parental control apps is not widespread in Kosovo, meaning children risk being exposed to harmful content on social media, a BIRN survey found.
Of 61 parents surveyed online, just 13 said they use apps such as Family Link, Kaspersky Safe Kids, Ping, and Net Nanny. Forty-eight said they limit screen time; one said she struggled to juggle online vigilance with her work commitments.
“Due to long work hours, I don’t control what my three children, aged four to 18, watch,” she said.
Aggression, lack of focus
Photo illustration: Unsplash.com
TikTok told BIRN that the “safety and well-being” of its users is a priority, and that it “does not permit content that encourages or promotes dangerous challenges”.
“For the safety of our community, we proactively detect and remove such content from the platform,” the platform said.
TikTok’s rules state that no one under the age of 13 can open a profile; it told BIRN that in the third quarter of 2024, it removed more than 24 million accounts “suspected” to belong to children under 13.
However, Valon Rashiti, a father of two, said his nine-year-old son has already encountered harmful games on TikTok.
“After hearing concerns from many parents about dangerous games on TikTok, my wife and I decided to monitor our son’s usage daily,” Rashiti told BIRN.
“We’ve had many discussions with him about these risks, and for now, we’ve managed to keep him under control.”
Even so, Rashiti said he had seen signs of aggression and a lack of focus.
“There were times when we saw our son, after playing fighting games, become more aggressive and struggle with school focus,” he said.
“My wife and I try to keep him under control, though it’s difficult. We don’t let him access dangerous games. Teachers should also supervise students during breaks to reduce these risks.”
Need to raise awareness
Illustration: BIRN
Experts say parental control apps are crucial to protecting children from inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and online threats.
Yet it seems most parents do not use them.
“Many parents don’t know these apps exist or how to use them effectively,” said the Centre for Advanced Studies, FIT, one of the few organisations in Kosovo dealing with child online safety. “Additionally, most require payment, which can be a barrier.”
Snapchat and TikTok pose the biggest risks. “Content on these networks poses a real threat to children,” FIT warned.
To address the threat, FIT advocates awareness campaigns for parents and children, school-based digital safety education, and a state-supervised parental control app.
“While no official data exists, a national app supervised by the state could raise awareness and enhance social media safety,” FIT told BIRN.
Resa Kosumi, whose child is seven years old, said she hadn’t heard of the parental control apps until reading the BIRN survey.
“My child doesn’t own a phone but is exposed to online risks through friends,” Kosumi said.
State and parental responsibility
According to a 2024 study by Save the Children, young people in Kosovo are most exposed to bullying on TikTok, while inappropriate language and dangerous challenges are also a threat.
“Social pressure pushes children to participate in risky trends,” said Mirjeta Pestisha-Deliu, a psychologist at the Nurture Nest centre in the capital, Pristina.
“While TikTok filters content, there’s a thin line between some images and explicit material.”
Besides the responsibility of the state, Pestisha-Deliu said parents have a key role to play.
“Parents must definitely be controllers of children and adolescents, despite the fact that this can be challenging; considering the negative effects and risks, as much as they have time and opportunity, children should be supervised and controlled not only on TikTok but also on any other social network.”
Behxhet Shala, President of the Council for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms in Kosovo, sees the lack of institutional action as a violation of children’s rights.
“Without clear rules, minors risk exposure to harmful content, affecting their development,” Shala told BIRN.
“Minors spend most of their time at school, on the street and at home browsing websites, which, when used or rather misused, substantially hinders the normal development of their personality,” he said. “Without doubt, we are violating their human rights if we do not create rules for Internet use.”
In December last year, Kosovo’s education ministry said that “all protection structures and mechanisms” at the municipal level should cooperate with educational institutions, in accordance with the Law on Child Protection, “to handle these cases with an intersectoral approach”.
The ministry has introduced a guide – Journey through the Internet – providing resources for students, teachers and parents on safe Internet use.
Calls for media education
Muhamet Jahiri, a media professor at the University of Pristina, said media education should be introduced into schools as a matter of urgency.
He advocated three distinct components:
“The first is related to teaching knowledge about using content on the Internet. By getting acquainted with the application, young people will be able to read filtered content. The second is related to the skills to identify the rights of this platform and protect against content manipulation. And the third is related to the depth of critical judgment on the content that is applied.”
“The deeper the critical judgment, the less harmful content is present, and the more media content and social networks benefit the individual,” Jahiri said.
Responding to concerns across the region, in October 2024 TikTok unveiled its Digital Safety Agenda for the Western Balkans, covering Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro, in cooperation with the Child Rights Centre Albania.
TikTok told BIRN the aim of the project was to provide “digital literacy knowledge and skills” covering, among other things, “responsible use of the internet, safety measures and social communication”.
“Given the nature of the topic, the specific focus will be put on parents/caregivers and teachers, teens and women, to reflect the certain needs and attitudes of these groups and the particular risks they may encounter in the digital world,” TikTok said.