A little over a week ago, the Pakistani government announced a ban on the popular video-sharing social media platform, TikTok. The government had cited the spread of immoral and indecent content on the platform as the reason for the ban. Today, the ban has been lifted but with certain conditions.
The announcement on the lifting of the ban was made on Twitter by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). An image of the press release attached to the tweet says the lifting is conditional as it comes with certain conditions.
Press Release: PTA has restored TikTok services with certain conditions. pic.twitter.com/Zt7bjAmdN4
— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) October 19, 2020
It turns out that TikTok has assured the PTA that it will moderate content on the platform “in accordance with societal norms and the laws of Pakistan”. It has also said it will ensure that users who are continuously involved in uploading unlawful content are blocked.
Based on these conditions, the PTA has thus decided to lift the ban. However, it says that if these conditions are not fulfilled it will permanently block the app.
TikTok is one of the most popular apps in the country and boasts 43 million installs according to info from Sensor Tower, an analytics firm. The Verge reports that Pakistan is also the country with the third-highest number of video removals, with more than 6 million videos pulled down in H1 2020 for failing to meet TikTok’s rules.
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