Pakistan bans TikTok for fourth time due to ‘inappropriate content’

Tech

Published: 2021-07-21 15:19

Last Updated: 2024-04-21 23:03


Credit: Alarabiya
Credit: Alarabiya

Wednesday, the video-sharing app TikTok was blocked in Pakistan for a fourth time due to its “inappropriate content,” the country’s telecommunication regulator said.

“The action has been taken due to the continuous presence of inappropriate content on the platform and its failure to take such content down,” it said in a statement.

TikTok has fought a series of legal battles with religious activists and authorities in the conservative Muslim nation, and was shut down for two days earlier July on the order of a provincial court.

In turn, freedom of speech advocates have long criticized the government’s censorship and control of Pakistan’s internet and media.

However, a local TikTok representative has not given any comment yet.

In June, TikTok said it had removed more than six million videos available to Pakistan users in just three months following complaints from officials and ordinary users.

According to the company, about 15 percent of the videos removed were taken down due to “adult nudity and sexual activities.”