KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) today (Friday) withdrew its earlier decision to ban popular video sharing platform TikTok and ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to restore the social media application in the country.
During today’s hearing, the PTA apprised the court that it had blocked access to the app on June 30. The telecommunication authority had requested the court to review its decision and allow it to restore the services.
PTA representatives assure the court that the appeal, seeking removal of ‘objectionable content’, will be decided upon by the court given date. The hearing was then adjourned till next Monday.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said he was ‘happy’ that the SHC withdrew its decision to ban the social media platform.
خوشی ہے کہ سندہ ہائیکورٹ نے TikTok پر پابندی کا فیصلہ واپس لے لیا ہے، دنیا میں اس وقت ٹیکنالوجی کی جنگ چل رہی ہے کمپنیاں ایکدوسرے کے خلاف پراپیگنڈا کر رہی ہیں ہمارے ریگولیٹری ادارے اور جج صاحبان کو اس لڑائ سے علیحدہ رہنا چاہئے اور جو پاکستان میں سرمایہ کاری کرے اسے خوش آمدیدکہیں
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) July 2, 2021
“There is an ongoing war of technology in the world right now and companies are doing propaganda against each other. Our regulatory authorities and honourable judges should stay away from this fight and welcome those who invest in Pakistan,” he added.
It is pertinent to mention that TikTok was blocked for the third time in the past 12 months due to the content shared on the mobile app. It was earlier banned in April by the Peshawar High Court on the same grounds.
A day earlier, it was reported that more than six million videos were removed from TikTok in Pakistan in three months. Around 15 per cent of the removed videos were “adult nudity and sexual activities”.
“In the Pakistani market, TikTok removed 6,495,992 videos making it the second market to get the most videos removed after the USA, where 8,540,088 videos were removed,” TikTok Pakistan’s latest transparency report said on Wednesday, covering January to March.
