KARACHI: Video platform TikTok said this week it had removed 6,019,754 videos for violating community guidelines in Pakistan in the third quarter (Q3) of 2021.
The company on Monday released its Community Guidelines Enforcement Report, which details the volume and nature of violative content and accounts removed from the platform in Q3 of 2021. The report provides insight into content removed for violating the Community Guidelines, reinforcing the platform’s public-accountability, to the community, policymakers, and NGOs.
TikTok has been banned more than five times in Pakistan. The most recent ban by the country’s telecom regulator, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), was imposed in July 2021, and lifted in November 2021 “after assurances by the platform to control ‘immoral and unlawful’ content.”
“To protect the safety of the community and the integrity of the platform, 91,445,802 videos were removed globally, between 1st July and 30th September 2021, comprising around 1 percent of all videos uploaded,” the platform said in a statement. “Nearly 95 percent of those videos were removed before a user reported it, while 88 percent before the video received any views and 93 percent were removed within 24 hours of being posted.”
With 6,019,754 videos removed, Pakistan is now ranked fourth in the world for the largest volume of videos taken down, TikTok said.
“In addition, 73.9 percent of content promoting harassment and bullying were proactively removed, while 72.4 percent of hateful-behavior videos were also removed before anyone reported them,” the statement added.
A senior official at TikTok told Arab News last year after being repeatedly banned in Pakistan over content that local authorities say is “immoral,” TikTok had increased the number of Pakistani content moderators by over 300 percent and tripled its investment in the South Asian country.
“Understanding the gravity of the local laws, ethics and values, TikTok has invested heavily in its team of local-language content moderators, leading to a 300 percent-plus growth in local-language moderation headcount,” Jiagen Eep, Trust and Safety, Singapore Hub Lead for TikTok, told Arab News via email.
“This large content moderation team works round the clock, monitoring content posted by our users in Pakistan,” he said. “Of course, our moderators work within the purview of prevailing labor laws and additional offline time is provided for wellbeing and training.”
The official said keeping in mind the social, religious and cultural context of Pakistan, TikTok had “more than tripled our investment in the last twelve months in our dedicated local-language moderation team for Pakistan” that ensured that content on the platform was in line with community guidelines and prompt action was taken in case of violations.
“The content moderation process has been made even more efficient with the hiring of local-language moderators who understand multiple Pakistani languages, culture and social norms and are able to make quick assessments in light of our community guidelines,” he said.
TikTok removes over six million videos from Pakistan for violating community guidelines
https://arab.news/jc699
TikTok removes over six million videos from Pakistan for violating community guidelines
- Pakistan is now ranked fourth in the world for the largest volume of videos taken down
- 73.9 percent of content promoting harassment and bullying was proactively removed
Bangladesh-Pakistan flights resume after 14 years
- National carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines departed for Pakistan’s Karachi city with 150 passengers
- Since 2012, travelers between both nations have used connecting flights to reach their destinations
DHAKA, Bangladesh: Direct flights between Bangladesh and Pakistan resumed on Thursday after more than a decade, as ties warm between the two nations that have long had an uneasy relationship.
Bangladesh and Pakistan — geographically divided by about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) of Indian territory — were once one nation. They split after a bitter war in 1971.
Since 2012, travelers between Bangladesh and Pakistan had to use connecting flights through Gulf hubs such as Dubai and Doha.
On Thursday national carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines departed for the Pakistani city of Karachi, the first regular flight since 2012.
Mohammad Shahid, one of 150 Karachi-bound passengers on board, said he was happy to be able to travel more frequently than before, when he could only make the journey once every two or three years.
“We had been waiting for such an opportunity because we travel continuously,” he told AFP in Dhaka.
“There are so many people waiting in Pakistan to come here, and some waiting here to go there.”
Direct flights will now operate twice weekly.
Biman said in a statement that their resumption would “play a significant role in promoting trade and commerce, expanding educational exchanges, and fostering cultural ties between the two countries.”
Ties with fellow Muslim-majority nation Pakistan have warmed since a student-led revolt in Bangladesh overthrew Sheikh Hasina in 2024, ending her autocratic 15-year rule.
Over the same period, relations between Bangladesh and Hasina’s old ally India have turned frosty.
Cargo ships resumed sailing from Karachi to Bangladesh’s key port of Chittagong in November 2024.
Trade has risen since then and cultural ties have grown, with popular Pakistani singers performing in Dhaka, while Bangladeshi patients have traveled to Pakistan for medical care.
