Pakistan lifts ban on TikTok

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has decided to unban the Chinese video-sharing app, TikTok. The decision was made after making reconciliations with the TikTok administration.  Earlier the PTA had issued a notification that resulted in banning the app citing the “immoral” and “indecent” content shared on it.

In its latest press release, PTA has lifted the ban on TikTok. From the official Twitter account of PTA, it was tweeted that TikTok has agreed to block its user accounts who would have been involved in sharing ‘obscenity’ and ‘immorality.’ On the 12th of October 2020, TikTok senior representatives also held virtual meetings with the PTA. The Authority called it a meaningful engagement in which TikTok highlighted the efforts they made to ensure moral certainty in their content.

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.

— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) October 19, 2020

TikTok has assured the local authority that it will keep an eye on the content shared on the app and make sure to satisfy the local laws.

The year 2020 has not proven to be a promising year for TikTok. In the wake of border skirmishes between China and India, the Indian Government had already banned TikTok in its state’s vicinity.

Similarly, owing to the tussle of the US-China trade war, TikTok has constantly been facing backlash from US state executives. On 14th August 2020, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order which states that ByteDance — the parent company of TikTok — has to sell or spin off its US TikTok business. In September, TikTok filed a request in the US court for acquiring a preliminary injunction to rescue the app from being banned by the Trump administration and remained successful. Amidst the chaos, Oracle and Walmart — two US-based tech giants — have decided to acquire 20 percent stakes in a newly structured company TikTok Global.

Indonesia and Bangladesh have also banned TikTok in their countries on the basis of different ethical reasons, i.e., to discourage internet pornography. However, Indonesia overturned the decision later. In Hong Kong, after the new security law, TikTok had discontinued its operations. Pakistan has recently unlocked TikTok after a stint of blockage.