Pakistani government blocked TikTok Today, claiming that it has received complaints from different society segments against immoral content.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority "PTA" reported that it had issued a final notice to the company, in view of the “complaints and nature of the content being consistently posted on TikTok.
In July, Pakistan had banned a Chinese-owned live-streaming app ''Bigo'' for similar reasons. However, left the door open to review its decision if TikTok manages to create a “satisfactory mechanism” to moderate content.
Moreover, Internet platforms have regularly run afoul of Pakistan’s laws on morality and objectionable content. YouTube, which has borne the brunt of such actions so far, was banned for more than three years between September 2012 and January 2016. The video-sharing platform was only reinstated after it launched a local version that allows the government to demand the removal of material it considers offensive.
The Chinese version of TikTok app surpassed 600 million daily active users in August, rising from 400 million at the start of the year.
According to China Chief Executive Officer Kelly Zhang, the service produced 41.7 billion yuan, in revenue for more than 22 million creators over the past year and the company intends to spend US$1.5bil, in a push to double that figure over the next 12 months.
Noteworthy, the application received lots of controversy from U.S. lawmakers and the Trump administration over national security concerns due to China’s ByteDance owning the technology. The company faced a deadline on last Sept. 15 to either sell its U.S. operations to Microsoft Corp or being banned throughout America.
Under a Chinese law introduced in 2017, companies have an obligation to support and cooperate in the country’s national intelligence work.
Last July, the House of Representatives voted to bar federal employees from downloading the app on government-issued devices as part of a proposal, offered by Representative Ken Buck.
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