Petition Filed in Court to Ban TikTok

(Digital Itla) A petition has been filed in court seeking a ban on TikTok based on the degradation it is causing in society. A bench consisting of Justice Ejaz Anwar and Justice Farah Jamshid heard the petition regarding the TikTok ban in the Peshawar High Court. During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel, Barrister Babar Shahzad Imran, argued that obscene videos are uploaded on TikTok, which is creating a disruption in society. The petitioner's counsel informed the court that the court had requested a report from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) regarding the firewall. On this, PTA's counsel Jehanzeb Mahsud informed the court that the required report had been submitted. The PTA counsel argued that the system of TikTok and other social media platforms is such that if a user views a specific type of video, similar content continues to appear before them later. He stated that the petitioner is talking about controlling specific content; however, blocking only specific content is a very difficult task. The PTA counsel told the court that the authority is working on this matter and several accounts have already been blocked. He said that whichever account receives a complaint is blocked. On this occasion, Justice Ejaz Anwar remarked that if there is a political post and the government wants to block it, it gets blocked immediately, so why can't this type of content be controlled. To this, the counsel stated that a separate body has now been established for social media control. The counsel informed the court that the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority has been established and this body now looks into such matters. The petitioner's counsel argued that if the government does not control TikTok, people will come out against it, hence a response should be sought from the new authority as well. Accepting the petitioner's request, the court summoned a report from the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority and adjourned further hearing.