Pakistan has banned the online short video sharing platform TikTok on the grounds that it contains “immoral and indecent” content. Pakistan is a country with a majority Muslim population.
Pakistan’s state regulator said Friday (Oct. 9) that it has repeatedly directed the platform to tighten content controls to prevent users from accessing “illegal” content.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said, “However, the platform failed to fully comply with the regulatory directives and as a result, the authorities issued instructions to block the TikTok application in the country.
The regulator defended the decision, saying that the PTA gave TikTok “considerable time” in its official warning to respond and follow through on the directive.
According to the PTA, “TikTok has been advised that the agency is willing to engage with TikTok at any time to review this provision, provided that TikTok has satisfactory mechanisms in place to reduce the offending content.”
The online platform, which is popular in Pakistan, did not immediately react to Pakistani authorities blocking its service.
The human rights organization Amnesty International has strongly criticized Pakistan’s ban on TikTok, saying it deprives people of their right to express themselves online in the name of anti-civility campaigns.
In a statement posted on its Twitter page, Amnesty International said, “The ban on TikTok comes against a backdrop of some voices being banned from television, columns in newspapers disappearing, websites being blocked and TV ads being banned.”
TikTok is the international version of Shakespeare, the short-form video app from Chinese company ByteDance, which has come under pressure around the world over security and privacy concerns.
Pakistan’s neighbor, India, has blocked TikTok, as well as dozens of other apps developed by Chinese companies, citing cybersecurity concerns.
TikTok has also come under scrutiny in other countries, including the United States, the company’s largest revenue market.
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