PTA given four weeks to submit reply in TikTok case

The Islamabad High Court has asked the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority about the rules under which it banned TikTok.

The authority has been given four weeks to reply.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah even asked the name of the person making these decisions on PTA’s behalf.

TikTok is an app for entertainment and some people were even making money through it, he remarked.

Pakistan had banned the app on October 9 for its “obscene and immoral” content but the decision was reversed 10 days later.

The PTA spokesperson said TikTok has assured it would block all accounts repeatedly involved in spreading obscenity and immorality and it would moderate content in accordance with local laws. The authority has not announced whether the app will be unblocked immediately.

The authority had said at the time of the ban that the decision was made after it received complaints ‘against immoral/indecent content’ on the app. “In view of the presence of vulgar, indecent/immoral content on the platform and its negative effects on society, the PTA has been continuously asserting TikTok to prevent its platform from disseminating the unlawful content,” it said, adding that the app didn’t take concrete steps for blocking and removal of unlawful content.