A court in Pakistan has ordered the Pakistan Telecom Authority to block a popular social media app TikTok. Spokesperson of the PTA, Khurram Mehran said, “The court has asked PTA to block access to TikTok,” adding that the authority would comply with the order.
The order was issued by the court when a private complainant said the social media app was spreading indecent content, said Jehanzeb Mehsud, a lawyer who represented the PTA to Reuters. A high court in the northwestern city of Peshawar was hearing a case in the matter. TikTok’s representative in Pakistan said he had heard about the court order and the company would issue further comment in due course.
The country had previously banned the app in October but restored it within 10 days after the company vowed to block all accounts involved in spreading “obscenity and immorality.
PTA said the social media company had agreed to moderate accounts in accordance with local laws.TikTok has been one of the most-downloaded app in Pakistan behind WhatsApp and Facebook.
owned by China-based ByteDance, Tiktok has become hugely popular in a short period of time, by encouraging young users to post brief videos. But the app has been landed in controversies in a number of countries, with authorities raising privacy concerns and security fears due to its links with China.
