The Peshawar High Court has directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to ensure the removal of all blasphemous and objectionable material from TikTok. This decision came on Wednesday in response to a petition requesting a permanent ban on the social media platform.
A bench consisting of Justice SM Atiq Shah and Justice Shakeel Ahmed heard the petition, filed by Advocate Imran Khan. It called for the PTA, Federal Investigation Agency, and Ministry of Information to permanently ban TikTok in Pakistan due to repeated violations of guidelines and the Constitution. The primary concern was the platform’s content, particularly videos deemed blasphemous and objectionable.
The petitioner’s lawyer argued for the ban, stating, “While we do not oppose the sharing of positive content, the platform is also being used to share blasphemous material.” Justice Attique agreed, saying, “Positive content should be shared, but there should be no place for objectionable material.”
PTA’s lawyer informed the court that any blasphemous posts on TikTok are promptly blocked. However, Justice Shah questioned the effectiveness of these measures, asking, “Why doesn’t such content get filtered in Pakistan like in the US and other countries, where they have better filtering systems in place?”
The court’s directive aims to ensure that TikTok adheres strictly to the removal of inappropriate content, addressing the concerns raised in the petition.
