ISLAMABAD: The chief of Pakistan’s telecom watchdog on Monday recommended that social media users posting “inappropriate content and videos” on video streaming app TikTok should be arrested.
Wildly popular among Pakistani youth, the Chinese-owned app has been shut down by authorities multiple times since last year over “indecent” content, forcing the company to pledge to moderate uploads.
Freedom of speech advocates have long criticized what they call “creeping” government censorship and control of Pakistan’s Internet and media, which authorities deny. Dating apps have been blocked and last year Pakistani regulators asked YouTube to immediately block all videos they considered “objectionable” from being accessed in the country, a demand criticized by rights campaigners.
Amir Azeem Bajwa, the chief of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), said social media in Pakistan should be controlled according to the norms and values of the society in which it operated.
“TikTok cannot stop anyone from uploading a video, therefore, the individuals frequently posting inappropriate content and videos on the site should be arrested,” he said at a press conference in Islamabad.
Bajwa said the site has been blocked four times in Pakistan but “inappropriate and objectionable content” continued to be shared on the application.
PTA had recently received at least 1.1 million complaints against inappropriate content and blocked over 1.046 million reported links and websites, he said, suggesting that TikTok administrators should take satisfactory measures according to Pakistan’s terms and conditions for social media use.
The statement by the PTA chief came as hundreds of journalists camped outside Pakistan’s parliament on Monday to protest a proposed media law that seeks to create a new regulator and set up special tribunals to try media-related cases.
The protesters, which included journalists from all major Pakistani news channels and national and regional newspapers as well as from media outlets in the provinces, converged in front of parliament under the banner of a federal body for the rights of journalists, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government backs the proposed regulator, saying it is meant for the protection of journalists and to combat misinformation.
Arrest social media users posting ‘inappropriate’ TikTok content, Pakistani telecom watchdog chief says
https://arab.news/cch2z
Arrest social media users posting ‘inappropriate’ TikTok content, Pakistani telecom watchdog chief says
- The Chinese-owned video streaming app has been banned in Pakistan four times
- PTA chairman’s comments come amid journalists’ protests over proposed law to create new regulator
Federal cabinet authorized joining Gaza Board of Peace, says Pakistan PM
- Shehbaz Sharif, along with various world leaders, signed Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ charter this week in Davos
- The global body led by US President Trump seeks to end conflicts worldwide, including the one in Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said this week that the federal cabinet gave the green signal for Pakistan to join US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace (BoP) body after holding consultations on the matter.
Sharif, along with the representatives of 18 other countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Türkiye, Indonesia, Qatar and others, signed the BoP’s charter with Trump during the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos on Thursday.
The Board brings together participating states and stakeholders seeking to support dialogue, stability and peace-related initiatives linked to the ongoing crisis in Gaza. However, Pakistani opposition parties have criticized the government for not holding consultations before joining the Trump-led initiative.
“Pakistan received the invitation for the Board of Peace on which the cabinet, after consultations, gave the authorization to join,” Sharif told reporters outside the Pakistan High Commission in London on Saturday.
He said the government had decided to join the global body with the hope that it would establish peace in Gaza and aid in the territory’s reconstruction.
The same was said by Sharif’s adviser on political and public affairs, Rana Sanaullah, while he spoke to a private news channel on Saturday.
Sanaullah said the cabinet held discussions on whether the government should join the BoP and endorsed the move to do so.
“The development happened in the past week to 10 days,” Sanaullah told private news channel Geo News.
“Based on this, the government signed after consultations with the cabinet. I know this, I was in that consultation.”
Trump has shared few details about the BoP, a body of world leaders formed under his leadership to end global conflicts including the one in Gaza.
Chaired by Trump, the board would include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British prime minister Tony Blair and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
