Ban on TikTok Pakistan is back

Ban on TikTok Pakistan is back

by
The popular short-form video app is no longer available on mobile devices in the country after regulators published a request on Thursday to “immediately” block access to it.

Pakistan’s Telecommunications Authority said it banned TikTok after a provincial court in Peshawar asked to remove the platform.

According to a court order, the judges argued that the app was “harmful to youth” in Pakistan. They also claimed that “videos being uploaded [were] against the established norms and values ​​”of the country.

The platform was blocked for the first time last October, after the telecommunications authority accused it of hosting “immoral” and “indecent” content.

The official said at the time that TikTok had not created a satisfactory way to block offensive content after a warning to put his house in order during the summer.

The decision was later reversed after the app, which is owned by Chinese technology giant ByteDance, promised to moderate the content in accordance with local laws.

Since then, questions about the company’s future in Pakistan have surfaced.

Representatives of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority said on Thursday in court that TikTok had not yet proved that it could keep its promise to crack down on certain content, according to Sara Ali Khan, legal representative of a Peshawar location who filed the petition that led the court to consider a ban. Khan told CNN Business that she was present in court during the lawsuit.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. But she said earlier that she has “robust protections to support a safe and welcoming platform” and that “she will continue to allow Pakistani voices and creativity in a safe environment”.
The social network has faced several obstacles around the world recently. In January, it was forced to lay off workers in India after the country doubled what was already a month-long ban on the platform.

TikTok said at the time that “it had not received clear guidance on how and when our applications could be reinstated” in India and “it had no choice but to reduce the size of our workforce”.

– Michelle Toh contributed to this report.

.Source