Does the PTA want to isolate Pakistan from the outside world? High Court
ISLAMABAD ( Web News )
The Islamabad High Court has instructed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to review its ban on TikTok across the country.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah issued a six-page order against PTA’s restriction on the video-sharing application. TikTok was banned by the country for the fourth time on July 21. The court has asked the IT secretary to respond on Pakistan’s policy for social media apps.
“There’s no reason for PTA to ban TikTok,” the order stated. “In the hearings at the Sindh and Peshawar high courts earlier, the authority said that over 10 million people across the country use the application.”
Ninety-nine percent of these people have no objections over the app’s content. “There are only a handful of profiles that have been posting objectionable content and there’s no reason to ban the app for them.”
The court pointed out that TikTok is mostly used by people from the lower-income segments who are making money out of it. The PTA, too, has accepted that the application has more benefits than disadvantages.
On Friday, Justice Minallah expressed his anger with PTA for banning the app and ordered a consultation with the federal government to make rules for the telecommunication authority.
Does the PTA want to isolate Pakistan from the outside world? You should close Google too then. This is the 21st century and people earn their livelihood through social media. “If such videos are also uploaded on YouTube, will you also close YouTube?” he said.
On July 21, the PTA blocked access to TikTok under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016. This was the fourth time the app has been banned in the country.
“The action was taken due to the continuous presence of inappropriate content on the platform and its failure to take such content down,” the PTA said in a press statement.