The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday removed the ban from the famous short video-sharing application TikTok and instructed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to implement measures to ensure that “immoral content” is not uploaded on the said platform.
PHC Chief Justice Qaisar Rashid Khan presided over the hearing of a petition registered against TikTok wherein, DG PTA, director legal PTA, and authority’s lawyer Jahanzeb Mehsud and petitioner’s lawyer Sara Ali Khan appeared before the court.
Throughout the proceedings, the PHC chief justice questioned about the actions taken against the unethical content on the popular social media app.
“We have raised the issue again with the TikTok’s administration,” the DG PTA replied. “They have also hired a focal person and will look into all the immoral and illegal content that is being uploaded.” Moreover, at the previous hearing, PTA had notified the court that it had blocked access to almost 500,000 offensive videos on TikTok.
Read more: About 500,000 TikTok videos containing objectional content banned by PTA
The court further instructed PTA Director General Tariq Gandapur to present a comprehensive report at the next hearing listed for May 25. Responding to the said news, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry advised against taking decisions that may affect the financial future of the country. Furthermore, the Minister tweeted that they require a structure to encourage international organizations to make Pakistan their investment hub.
Meantime, TikTok issued an official statement stating that it was pleased to be once again available to Pakistan. The spokesperson for the platform stated that this is proof of TikTok’s continued dedication to implementing our community guidelines to foster a secure and positive community in the online space.
The statement further added, “The creativity and passion of this community have brought joy to households across Pakistan and provided a home for incredibly talented creators. TikTok is excited to be able to continue enabling Pakistani voices and creativity as we work to support the success story of Pakistan.”
Source: Dawn
