Pakistan has once again banned Chinese short-video making app TikTok, this time for allegedly peddling vulgarity and spreading offensive content on its platform. The country banned TikTok in October 2020 for a brief 10-day period for hosting "immoral" and "indecent" videos.
Meantime, TikTok said in a statement that it "is built upon the foundation of creative expression, with strong safeguards in place to keep inappropriate content off the platform".
"In respectful compliance to the orders of the Peshawar High Court, Pakistan telecommunication Authority has issued directions to the service providers to immediately block access to the TikTok App. During the hearing of a case today, the PHC has ordered for the blocking of App," the Pakistan telecommunication Authority said in a tweet late Thursday.
According to an Al Jazeera report, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan accused TikTok of hosting content "unacceptable for Pakistani society." Khan said the platform engaged in "peddling vulgarity" and ordered the ban take effect immediately during a hearing on Thursday.
"In Pakistan, we have grown our local-language moderation team, and have mechanisms to report and remove the content in violation of our community guidelines. We look forward to continuing to serve the millions of TikTok users and creators in Pakistan who have found a home for creativity and fun," the company added.
TikTok, along with several other Chinese apps, is already banned in India over national security concerns.
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