Pakistan Follows India to Ban TikTok, Cites ‘Immoral’ Content, Not Privacy as Reason

In July, Pakistan’s telecommunications regulator issued a “final warning” to the short-form video app over explicit content posted on the platform. TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, has been caught in a firestorm globally due to security and privacy concerns. It has already been blocked in India and it faces scrutiny in countries from Australia to the United States.

TikTok’s streak of misfortune has stemmed from a wide variety of reasons, initially including lack of proper curation and quality control, and of late, privacy debates that have risen as a result of its parent company, Bytedance’s allegedly close ties to the Chinese government.

TikTok was not immediately reachable for comment on the matter. The decision was taken after Prime Minister Imran Khan took a keen interest in the issue, said a second official in Pakistan, adding that Khan has directed the telecom authorities to make all efforts to block vulgar content in the conservative Islamic republic.

(With inputs from Reuters)