Tik Tok to Be Banned in Pakistan?

Tik Tok faces yet another potential country wide ban it seems. Earlier this year the app was banned in India temporarily. In a petition presented to the Lahore High Court Advocate Nadeem Sarwar calls upon the app to be permanently banned. He claims the app promotes vulgarity, harassment and an unproductive usage of time.

Tik Tok facing ban in Pakistan?

He listed the Federal Ministry of Law, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) as party in the petition. The plaintiff called upon the court to order the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to ban the app and called for the apps immediate removal from the Google PlayStore and Apple App Store stating that,

  “Tik Tok is a great mischief of modern times. It is destroying the youth and promoting immoral activities.”

Negative impacts of the app

The lawyer talked about the various negative impacts of the app, particularly on the youth. He stated that the app promotes unproductivity, pornography and harassment thus serving as a great threat to Pakistani culture. Not only is the app a complete waste of time he believes but it also a platform for predators to seek out their next victims to harass, especially innocent and gullible children thus making unsafe for children.

He also suggested the federal government establish a Privacy Protection Act to protect the privacy of children online. He also called upon PEMRA to be sure not to broadcast these videos.The petitioner claims that because Pakistan is an Islamic country it is thus the duty of the courts to promote Islamic values and principles. Thus the app which serves as a platform for highly inappropriate content should be taken down.

The lawyer also brought up recent tragic events of blackmailing. A young girl is reported to have committed suicide fearing her families response to a video made on Tik Tok of her dancing in a classroom. The video was filmed by her friend and went viral on the app. To prevent such devastations the lawyers agues that the app must be removes.

What do you think? Does the app actually deserved to be banned in Pakistan or should it just be regulated more strictly?

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Source: Lahore High Court moved for ban on TikTok app