TikTok Banned in Pakistan For 'Immoral, Unlawful Online Content'
Islamabad, October 9: The Pakistan government on Friday reportedly banned Chinese video-sharing app TikTok. According to reports of local media, the ban was imposed by Pakistan's Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The action was taken by the PTA against TikTok after the company failed to fully comply with instructions for “development of an effective mechanism for proactive moderation of unlawful online content”.
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The telecommunications regulatory body of Pakistan had sent a final notice” to the Chinese video-sharing app in July. In the notice, TikTok was asked put in place a comprehensive mechanism to control obscenity, vulgarity, and immorality. TikTok is owned by ByteDance. TikTok, UC Browser Among 59 Chinese Apps Banned by Govt of India Amid Row With China, See Full List.
Order by PTA:
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Pakistan's Telecommunication Authority blocks Chinese app TikTok "in view of a number of complaints from different segments of the society against immoral/indecent content on the video-sharing platform" https://t.co/3GWaqAbetK pic.twitter.com/DTzfOMd727
— ANI (@ANI) October 9, 2020
Keeping in view the complaints and nature of the content being consistently posted on TikTok, PTA issued a final notice to the application and gave considerable time to respond and comply with the Authority instructions for the development of an effective mechanism for proactive moderation of unlawful online content,” reported Pakistan's Geo News quoting excerpts from the statement issued by PTA.
Earlier this year, the Pakistani government also banned several platforms and games, including, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG). The government claimed that PUBG was addictive and dangerous for the mental health of young people.
In June this year, India banned 59 Chinese mobile apps in India, including TikTok, WeChat and UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community over national security concerns. In September, the Donald Trump administration in the United States also issued an order banning TikTok.
However, US District Court for the District of Columbia court barred the Trump administration's attempt to block TikTok downloads. The ban would have forced the removal of TikTok from smartphone app stores and end app-updates, meaning no new users could download it and would eventually become non-functional.
