ISLAMABAD,
Oct 10: Pakistan on Friday banned the wildly popular video sharing app
TikTok, as authorities press their clampdown on "immoral" content.
Chinese-owned
TikTok which has become a global sensation with its short video clips
has a huge user base among young Pakistanis, with some attracting
millions of followers.
But it has come up against backlash in the
ultra-conservative Islamic country, where in recent months several
dating apps including Tinder and Grindr have also been banned and
YouTube threatened with shutdown.
The Pakistan Telecommunication
Authority (PTA) on Friday said TikTok had failed to adhere to two
warnings, which had demanded it block "immoral, obscene and vulgar"
content.
"The application failed to fully comply with the
instructions, therefore, directions were issued for blocking of TikTok
application in the country", the PTA said in a statement.
Pakistanis were unable to access the app on Friday evening.
Arslan
Khalid, a digital media adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan, has
previously claimed the "exploitation, objectification &
sexualization of young girls on TikTok" was causing pain to parents.
Earlier
this week, Pakistani TikToker Jannat Mirza became the first in the
country to reach 10 million followers, with lip-syncing and slow motion
clips among her content.
"TikTok is a major source of entertainment
for lower and middle class Pakistanis, as well as illiterate citizens
that includes half the population as it is video based and easy to use,"
said Usama Khilji, a digital rights activist, who said the ban violates
freedom of speech.
Akhlaq Ahmed, who ran a TikTok account with
friends from the remote town of Jhal Magsi in Balochistan province, said
the news was like "losing someone from my family".
"The ban is
unfair and unjustified... instead of banning the app the PTA should have
called on TikTok to ban those users," he said of the "immoral" content.
Campaigners
have long criticised the creeping censorship and control of Pakistan's
internet, printed and electronic media. -AFP
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
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