Pakistan agency bans TikTok app

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan blocked the Chinese social media app TikTok, saying the company failed to fully comply with the instructions to develop an effective mechanism to control unlawful content.

In a statement, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said Friday that it took the step after receiving complaints against “immoral and indecent” content on the video-sharing platform.

The authority said that keeping in view the complaints and nature of the content being consistently posted on TikTok, the company was issued a final notice and given considerable time to respond and comply with instructions and guidelines.

But TikTok “failed to fully comply with [the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s] instructions,” after which the authority decided to ban it in Pakistan.

Shortly after the ban, the app began to show a blank interface with no text or images loading.

Pakistan has close relations with China.

The telecommunication authority kept the door open for a return of TikTok, saying “it is open for engagement” and would review its decision if TikTok develops a mechanism to moderate the content.

It has been a target of several complaints and court petitions calling for its ban in Pakistan. In July, the authority said it had issued a “final warning” to TikTok to remove “obscene and immoral content.”

Pakistani TikTok celebrity Hareem Shah, who has over four million followers on the app, said the government’s reasons for the ban on the popular Chinese video-sharing platform were “unfounded”.

“This talk of it being a platform for ‘indecent/immoral content’ is completely unfounded,” she said speaking with the press in the city of Karachi.

She added that such government actions could lead to further encroachment on creative liberties in the country.

The app was earlier banned by India and the United States for violating guidelines.