Pakistan lifts ban on TikTok
Block on social media app removed after company agrees to better moderation of content

Pakistan has ruled that its telecommunications regulator can lift the ban on social media app TikTok, after government officials said the company was working with them on monitoring “immoral” content. The head of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) told the Peshawar High Court that it was in talks with TikTok and the company had agreed to appoint a person to focus on ensuring content was better moderated.
“Immoral” content according to the government includes nudity, blasphemy and obscenities. “When people realise 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.
“We want to acknowledge Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s support and ongoing productive dialogue, and recognise their care for the digital experience of Pakistani users,” TikTok said after the court ordered the ban to be lifted.
On March 11, the court had ordered the app to be blocked in the country based on a petition alleging it had allowed obscene content to be published. The court will continue hearing the case on May 25.
Last October, the PTA blocked TikTok for similar reasons, but after 10 days it changed its decision saying ByteDance, the company’s owners, had agreed to moderate its content in Pakistan.
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