More bad news for TikTok users in Pakistan. The country is banning ByteDance short-videos platform for the second time. The reason is that these videos are objectionable and immoral in their content.
TikTok was banned in October for 10 days last year for hosting “immoral” and “indecent” videos, but the company was able to assure the Pakistani government that videos would be moderated “following societal norms and the laws of Pakistan,”. The app resumed operations a week and a half later the shutdown.
However it seems, the platform didn’t make the necessary changes to satisfy the Pakistani government. From March 11, service providers blocked access to the TikTok app.
For the time being it’s unclear why TikTok’s legal situation in Pakistan. Apparently, it still involves “immoral” and “indecent” content according to an Al Jazeera report.
The Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Qaiser Khan accused TikTok of hosting content “unacceptable for Pakistani society”.
The platform endured several contentious government bans and other restrictions around the world. The most notable was a countrywide ban in India last summer. And let’s not forget about the Trump administration’s attempt to force the company to partner with a US tech firm to monitor its bonds with the Chinese government.
The application is also facing serious opposition in Southeast Asia, where governments there have extended existing control over the media to the video-centric social network using laws and regulations.
