PTA blocks video-sharing app TikTok on Eid

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) blocked on Wednesday popular short-video sharing application TikTok across the country.

“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 PTA said in a statement on its official Twitter handle.

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Explaining the reason behind the decision, it said: “The action has been taken due to continuous presence of inappropriate content on the platform and its failure to take such content down.”

Press Release: 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.

— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) July 21, 2021

The latest suspension, which coincides with Eidul Azha celebrations, came nearly three weeks after the Sindh High Court (SHC) recalled its June 28 order placing a ban on TikTok.

A bench of the high court had directed the telecommunication regular to unblock the app across the country on July 2, three days after it ordered that public access to the app be blocked.

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On June 28, the SHC had ordered the authorities concerned to impose a ban on the video streaming app. This was the third time that the video-sharing platform was banned in the country.

The court gave the order on a petition filed by a citizen who lamented that he approached the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to have immoral content removed from the app, however, the PTA did not do anything in this regard.