Pakistan blocks Chinese app TikTok over vulgar content: Report
Pak telecom authority bans Chinese app TikTok on complaints of vulgar content.
Pakistan’s telecommunication authority blocked TikTok on Friday, saying the Chinese app has failed to comply with the government’s instructions for “development of an effective mechanism for proactive moderation of unlawful online content,” according to a report by Pakistan’s news channel Geo News.
The app, which has faced problems this year in the United States, India and Australia, was issued a final warning by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to moderate the content shared on their platform earlier in July.
The authority said the ban comes as people from several sections of society have expressed their grievances over “immoral and indecent content on the video-sharing application.”
Responding to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority warning earlier in July, TikTok told Reuters that they had “removed more than 3.7 million “violating user videos” from Pakistan in the second half of 2019.” They had said at that time that 98% of those videos were removed before they were reported and 89% of those videos were removed “before they had a single view.”
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said that it had issued a final notice and had allowed TikTok to respond to the grievances and had blocked the app after it noticed that objectionable content was continuously being posted on the app.
The statement accessed by ANI said, “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,”
Pakistan Telecommunication Authorityin their statement informed TikTok that it might review its decision if TikTok develops a satisfactory mechanism to moderate unlawful content.
India banned TikTok on June 2020 along with more than 150 other mobile applications citing that they were ‘prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.’ The move came weeks after the People’s Liberation Army of China tried to alter the status quo at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
