PHC directs PTA to remove sacrilegious content from TikTok

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to remove blasphemous and objectionable content from the video-sharing social media platform TikTok.

A two-member PHC bench conmprising Justice SM Attique Shah and Justice Shakeel Ahmad was hearing a petition seeking a ban on TikTok. The court directed the telecom operator to address the concerns raised in the petition.

A petitioner, Imran Khan, had filed the petition requesting the court to direct the respondents — PTA, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Ministry of Information — to ban TikTok in the country. Barrister Babar Shehzad represented the petitioner while Jahanzeb Mahmud appeared on behalf of the PTA. The lawyer for the petitioner told the bench that blasphemous and objectionable content was being shared on TikTok, therefore, it should be banned. He said that such applications, where sacrilegious and immoral content was being shared, were destroying our social fabric. He said that the application was launched by a Chinese company that allowed its users to share short videos. There were over 54 million TikTok users in Pakistan, making it the seventh country in the world in terms of the most subscribers.

The lawyer said the platform was being used to share content which was against the teachings of Islam and was violating the Constitution.

Barrister Babar said that the PTA had banned the application in 2021 on the order of the PHC.

Justice Shakeel Ahmad remarked that people should not share blasphemous and objectionable content, adding the court would not allow the use of the platform to spread blasphemous content. During the hearing, the lawyer for the PTA said that the telecom operator promptly removed any blasphemous posts on TikTok.

However, Justice SM Attique Shah questioned the effectiveness of these measures and asked why such content didn’t get filtered. He asked why such a system has not been implemented in Pakistan. He further inquired about the possibility of creating a firewall to automatically block blasphemous videos to which the PTA lawyer responded that the telecom operator did not have such a system.

The court directed the PTA to address the concerns raised in the petition. The PTA was directed to remove all objectionable content from TikTok and to submit a detailed report within seven days. The next hearing into the case is scheduled to take place on July 24.