In July, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) issued a "final warning" to ByteDance-owned TikTok, asking the firm to moderate content on its platform. Due to unsatisfactory response and inability "to fully comply with the instructions," PTA decided on Friday to ban TikTok. The press release has been attached below:
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
The regulator issued the ban given "complaints" and the "nature of the content being consistently posted on TikTok." It added the firm had been provided "considerable time" to respond, and due to TikTok"s failure to address the regulator"s concerns, directions were issued for blocking the application in the country.
The short-form video app is already facing problems in several countries, including Pakistan"s neighbor India, which has banned TikTok and another 58 Chinese apps due to diplomatic tensions. In the U.S., President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month to ban the app, as well as Tencent-owned WeChat, from both the Google Play Store and iOS App Store. However, the ban hasn"t kicked in yet since a judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration order (via Reuters).
Earlier this year, PTA decided to temporarily suspend PlayerUnknown"s Battlegrounds (PUBG). However, the Islamabad High Court revoked the suspension and directed the regulating authority to remove the ban.