In yet another shocking incident, a private company’s security guard in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Maymar area, lost his life while making a video for the highly popular video-sharing social networking platform TikTok on Sunday. The TikTok craze has overtaken youth as well as teenagers across the country and they are not even hesitating in risking their lives for the videos.
A similar incident occurred on November 22, reported in Karachi’s area of Gulistan-e-Jauhar, where a security guard accidentally shot himself dead when he was making a TikTok video while pointing out a pistol over his head.
It is now common in Pakistani TikTok to show guns and firing as a result, many incidents of teenagers getting killed in the middle of shooting video.
TikTok in Pakistan
Currently, available in more than 155 countries in 80 languages, TikTok is a platform for short-form videos, created with a library of editing tools, filters and effects. Users and users can adapt and remix posts by other users, usually to impish effect, mucking around with context and meaning.
Pakistan is TikTok’s 12th largest market in terms of app installs, with 43 million installs total, according to the analytics firm Sensor Tower. In spite of its 13th place in market share, Pakistan listed 3rd in terms of total video eliminations for violating TikTok’s content standards during the first half of 2020, with more than 5.5 million videos pulled.
These videos were removed by TikTok, rather than at the government’s request, though videos may be removed for violating local laws. TikTok has become hugely trendy over a short period of time, by encouraging young users to post brief videos.
Though, the social media app has been stalled in controversy with the system in a number of countries raising privacy and death incidents concerns and security fears.
TikTok ban in Pakistan
October 9, TikTok had been banned in Pakistan over ‘obscene’ and ‘indecent’ content. However, the ban was reversed after 10 days. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority banned TikTok in view of complaints. As per the authority, the app was given significant time to respond and comply with instructions to effectively moderate unlawful online content.
However, the application failed to fully comply with the instructions; therefore, instructions were issued for blocking of TikTok application in the country, the statement said. Later, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had lifted the ban on TikTok after 10 days.
In a statement, PTA said TikTok is being unlocked after assurance from management that they will block all accounts repeatedly involved in spreading obscenity and immorality. TikTok will moderate the account in accordance with local laws.
Recent incidents
In April, a 22-year-old man died after being hit by a train while shooting a video at the Jumma Goth railway station in Bhans Colony of Karachi.
On June 21, a teenage boy accidentally shot and killed himself while making a video for the highly popular video-sharing platform TikTok in Karachi’s Sikandarabad area.
On July 12, a teenager drowned in a Narowal canal while filming a video. A 13-year-old boy had shot himself dead while making a video for TikTok in Karachi on August 11.
In September police said a 20-year-old Danish killed while three others were injured after their car smashed into a tree in Karachi’s Korangi area. All three were recording a video for TikTok while driving, said police. The body and injured were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center.
Earlier, a 16-year-old boy, Ammar Haider, was accidentally shot dead while recording a TikTok video with his friends in Sialkot. In yet another incident, a teenage boy accidentally injured himself in the Firdous Colony of Lahore, while shooting a TikTok video.
The incident occurred in Firdous Colony where a teenager named Hamza fell from his rooftop while filming a Tik Tok video. He suffered severe wounds and was shifted to a hospital in a critical condition, said the police.
Need strict laws and training
In fact, Social media has become a source of livelihood for many people. This includes young content creators who have built recognition, travel vloggers, women running cooking shows, makeup tutorial to earn from home, and students who are learning online.
However, given the dynamic environment and the anonymity provided by the internet, there are no doubts, those in reckless hands, such types of social media apps can become a destructive weapon.
Considering the current scenario, including the massive amount of misinformation to promote such tendencies of reckless attitudes on social media, the existing legislations appear to fail in controlling unlawful activities.
The need of the hour, therefore, is to revisit our existing laws carefully, to overcome the evils associated with the Internet, while keeping our democratic structure and fundamental rights intact.
It is important to understand that the things that need to be controlled the dangers of social media without restricting the right to information and freedom of speech.
A lot of the knotty content is available on social media platforms as the audience willing to consume it. Rather than legislating for cultural change, authorities need to increase institutional capacity to enforce strict laws and invest in educating end-users.
