TikTok blocked in Pakistan for indecency and immorality

Credit: AFP

Pakistan has blocked the viral video-sharing app TikTok, accusing it of spreading indecency and immorality.

The move announced by the national telecommunications strikes an app which has rocketed in popularity in the past year and gained millions of young Pakistani followers.

Officials said the Chinese-owned app had not done enough after being given an ultimatum to clean up content after complaints about what was being posted.

Imran Khan, prime minister, has railed against vulgar online content corrupting Pakistan’s youth and last month banned dating apps including Tinder and Grindr.

Pakistan’s telecommunication authority (PTA) said TikTok was blocked “in view of the number of complaints from different segments of the society against immoral/indecent content”.

The surging global popularity of the app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance has been echoed in Pakistan. The country’s leading TikTok stars entertain millions of followers and have apparently revelled in challenging media stereotypes about the country.

One star, Jannat Mirza, was this week reported to be the first Pakistani with 10 million followers, having built a devoted following with her Bollywood lip-synchs and parodies.

The blocking risks frustrating sections of the youth vote that Imran Khan successfully courted ahead of his 2018 election and comes as he has said he wants to grow Pakistan’s digital businesses.

Mr Khan said this week he recognised “the immense potential of digital platforms like Facebook and the role that they can play in giving global opportunities to Pakistani youth”, after he held talks with Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer.

Yet he has also accused social media platforms of spreading obscenity and vulgarity that threaten traditional values and family life. Meanwhile media organisations are intimidated into not covering dissent, or giving air time to opposition leaders.

A PTA statement said TikTok had been given “considerable time” to respond to requests that it moderate “unlawful online content”.

“However, the application failed to fully comply with the instructions, therefore, directions were issued for blocking of the TikTok application in the country.”

TikTok has around 850 million worldwide users, but it has become a victim of growing tensions between China and America. Donald Trump has said the app’s data gathering is a security threat and is trying to ban it from the US.