Court orders PTA to decide on the complainant’s appeal by July 5
The Sindh High Court on Friday withdrew its earlier decision to ban popular video sharing platform TikTok and ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to restore the social media application in the country.
The court announced its decision on a petition by PTA seeking removal of the ban placed earlier and also instructed the authority to decide on the complainant’s appeal by July 5.
PTA representatives assure the court that the appeal, seeking removal of ‘objectionable content’, will be decided upon by the court given date.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said he was ‘happy’ that the SHC withdrew its decision to ban the social media platform.
“There is an ongoing war of technology in the world right now and companies are doing propaganda against each other. Our regulatory authorities and honourable judges should stay away from this fight and welcome those who invest in Pakistan.”
The popular video sharing platform was banned by the court on June 28 over “immoral content” and for celebrating “LGBTQ-Pride Month”.
Earlier on March 11, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) also ordered the PTA to ban TikTok over “immoral content”. The PHC, however, lifted the ban on April 1 after the PTA told the court that it had raised the issue again with the TikTok’s administration.
The PHC had directed the PTA to ensure that viewers from Pakistan do not access unethical and objectionable material in view the provisions of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.
In its quarterly transparency report, Tik Tok stated that during the three-month period from January till March 2021, 61,951,327 videos were removed globally.
In the Pakistani market, TikTok removed 6,495,992 videos making it the second market to get most videos removed after the USA where 8,540,088 videos were removed during this period.