Pakistan bans TikTok, for the fourth time

It is the fourth time that Pakistan's media regulator suspended TikTok’s services in country due to the content shared on the platform.

On its official twitter handle, the telecom regulator stated, "In the light of relevant provisions of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016, PTA has blocked access to TikTok App and website in the country".

"The action has been taken due to continuous presence of inappropriate content on the platform and its failure to take such content down," it added.

The action has been taken due to continuous presence of inappropriate content on the platform and its failure to take such content down.

— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) July 21, 2021

The development comes nearly three weeks after the Sindh High Court (SHC) had withdrawn the decision on banning popular video sharing application TikTok and directed the PTA to restore the platform.

The order came on a plea of the telecommunication regulator requesting the court to withdraw its order that called for a ban to be placed on Tiktok.

The court directed the PTA to decide the petitioner’s complaint against the app until July 5.

The court issued the order on a petition filed by a citizen dejected by the "immorality and obscenity" spread by content on popular video-​sharing mobile application.

In October 2020, the PTA had banned TikTok for the first time over complaints regarding indecent and immoral content.

The government lifted ban 10 days later after assurance from the management that they would block all accounts repeatedly involved in spreading obscenity and immorality.

In March, the PTA had directed internet service providers to immediately block access to TikTok in accordance with the orders of the Peshawar High Court.

The PHC had imposed a temporary ban on the platform's functioning in the country on a petition filed by several citizens stating that the content shared on the application were in violation of Pakistan’s Constitution, guaranteeing social and moral well-being of citizens.

The ban, however, was lifted by the PHC a few weeks later, with a direction to the PTA to take steps to ensure that "immoral content" was not uploaded to the platform.