Pakistan Court Lifts TikTok Ban; App to Monitor ‘Immoral’ Content

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority told the court that TikTok is helping them monitor “immoral” content. 

(Image: Google)

A high court in Pakistan said the country’s telecommunications authority can lift a block on social media app TikTok, after government officials said the company was working with them on monitoring what they called “immoral” content, Reuters reported.

According to the report, the head of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) told the court on Thursday in Peshawar that it was in talks with TikTok and the company had agreed to appoint a nodal officer to ensure better content moderation.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on 9 October, announced that it has blocked the social-media app TikTok, citing that the Chinese company has failed to filter out ‘immoral’ content.

The government in its press statement, released by the PTA, said that the Chinese company has failed to comply with “the authority instructions for the development of an effective mechanism for proactive moderation of unlawful online content.”

But after 10 days it reversed its decision saying the company’s owners, China-based ByteDance, had agreed to moderate content in Pakistan.

“When people realize the PTA will take action against them they will no longer upload such videos,” Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan said during the hearing on 1 April.

“We want to acknowledge Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s support and ongoing productive dialogue, and recognize their care for the digital experience of Pakistani users,” TikTok said in a statement issued on Thursday after the court ordered the ban be lifted.

On March 11 the court had ordered the app be blocked in the country based on a petition alledging it had obscene content. The court will continue hearing the case on May 25.

(With inputs from Reuters)