PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to create a mechanism to permanently block the users sharing “immoral content” on TikToK, saying it was “negatively affects young generation”.
The PHC directed the PTA to block all those sharing “immoral content” on the small video sharing site. The Peshawar High Court has issued a written order on the petition filed for prevention of unethical content on TikTok, stating that most of the young generation is being affected by the content on the site.
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The written order stated that the bench, headed by Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan, had issued directions to the concerned authorities to stop such content on the site. The PTA has submitted a report according to which so far 289.35 million videos have been removed while over 1.4mn accounts have been blocked. The PTA had said in its report that most of the accounts on the small video sharing sites belong to youths between the ages of 15 and 18.
The written court order said, “It was brought to our notice that the authorities are removing ‘unethical stuff’ and blocking the accounts but the offenders are not being punished, thus, they violate the rules again.” The court appreciates the steps taken by PTA for removal ‘immoral content; from TikTok, but directed the PTA to continue this exercise. “Let’s create a mechanism to permanently block the users repeatedly infringing the rules,” the court directed PTA. The bench has sought detail response from the government on the next hearing of the case.
A citizen named Ismatullah has filed a petition against the “immoral” content on TikTok through senior lawyer Sara Ali Khan. Sara Ali Khan said that they are not asking for the permanent closure of the app but the entertainment should not be against our social values. “Unethical and sexually explicit videos are being posted on the site which are having a detrimental effect on our young generation,” the lawyer maintained. Advocate Sara Ali Khan said that PTA and related agencies are working hard to remove such stuff but the issue has not been resolved yet. The lawyer said, “We want a permanent solution to the issue so that people get entertained within the social and culture rules of our society.”