Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Thursday banned the Chinese social media app TikTok over it’s failure to remove “immoral and indecent” content.
In a press release on Friday the PTA said “Keeping in view the complaints and nature of the content being consistently posted on TikTok, PTA issued a final notice to the application.”
In view of number of complaints from different segments of the society against immoral/indecent content on the video sharing application TikTok, pic.twitter.com/Vmp5umixeL
— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) October 9, 2020
“However, the application failed to fully comply with the instructions. Therefore, directions were issued for blocking of TikTok application in the country,” the statement went on to say.
The app was banned after Prime Minister Imran Khan criticised the platform and said that it harms the established values of society.
Pakistan’s regulatory authority has banned several apps and websites including the dating app Tinder due to pressure from the country’s conservative majority.
However, PTA has claimed that it is not a permanent move and that the authorities are still open for negotiations with the app’s developers if they agree to moderate inappropriate and unlawful content.