ISLAMABAD: The Sindh High Court on Friday reversed its decision to ban TikTok and directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to ensure that all “objectionable material” was removed from the social media app by the next hearing on July 5, Pakistani media reported.
The court had on Monday banned the video-sharing service in Pakistan after a petitioner moved the high court saying content on the platform was spreading “immorality and obscenity.” On the same day, PTA submitted an application requesting the court to take back its decision as the telecommunication authority was working with TikTok to remove all objectionable content.
“In today's hearing, the court directed the PTA to conclude hearing the complaint filed by a citizen against immoral content being shared on TikTok expeditiously,” Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported. “PTA officials informed the court that the authority will decide the case by July 5, while also requesting it to withdraw its restraining order in the case. The court ordered expeditious disposal of the petition and adjourned the hearing till Monday.”
Information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain welcomed the lifting of the ban:
TikTok has been banned in Pakistan twice before over “immoral content.”
On March 11, the Peshawar High Court had ordered the app be blocked in the country based on a petition alleging it had obscene content.
Last October, PTA blocked TikTok for similar reasons, but after 10 days it reversed its decision saying the company’s owners, China-based ByteDance, had agreed to moderate content in Pakistan.
