With close ties to China, Pakistan has called on TikTok to create effective mechanisms for dealing with illegal content.
Media regulators in Pakistan lifted the ban on shot video apps again on Friday. Today is now four months that the popular Chinese video-sharing service has taken steps to control the spread of obscene material.
This ban has been imposed and lifted four times in 15 months by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.
TikTok deemed as “immoral, obscene and vulgar”
TikTok, which is popular among Pakistani teens and young adults, was first blocked in Pakistan by the government over widespread complaints about “immoral, obscene and vulgar” content found on the app.
A statement posted on Twitter by the regulatory body said TikTok had confirmed the blocking of users who uploaded “unlawful content.” TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, has been downloaded almost 39 million times in Pakistan.
In recent years, Pakistan has made hundreds of complaints to Facebook and Twitter, claiming that the content can be aggressive and insulting to Islam, which is against Pakistani law. TikTok is called upon to develop mechanisms to prevent the spread of illegal content.
YouTube was banned in Pakistan in 2008 because of videos showing the Prophet Muhammad. Any physical depiction of Islam’s prophet is generally considered blasphemous by Muslims.