KARACHI: Video-sharing platform TikTok has taken down approximately 20 million videos in Pakistan for violating community guidelines, the company said on Monday, underscoring its resolve to effectively combat violations.
TikTok, a social media app that allows users to create and share short-form videos, made the disclosure in its report for the first quarter of the year. The platform has become extremely popular among younger generations, with over a billion active users worldwide.
However, this is not the first time that TikTok has removed videos from Pakistan. In July 2023, the video-sharing app had taken action against 11.7 million videos from Pakistan for the same reason.
“In Pakistan alone, the platform took action against 20,207,878 videos for breaching its community guidelines in the first quarter,” TikTok said in a statement on Monday, following the release of its Community Guidelines Enforcement Report 2024.
In the past, Pakistani authorities have banned the video-sharing service several times, with the first ban instituted in October 2020 over what was described as widespread complaints about allegedly “immoral, obscene, and vulgar” content on the app.
The service has been prohibited from operating in the country thrice more than 15 months since then. In November 2021, a Pakistani court finally reversed the ban after TikTok assured the government it would control the spread of objectionable content.
TikTok said the latest report highlighted the platform’s commitment to transparency, safety and inclusivity apart from how the company reflected its dedication to building trust and ensuring a safe platform for its global community.
The video platform removed 166,997,307 videos worldwide during the Jan-March period of 2024, of which 129,335,793 were identified through an automated detection technology, whereas 6,042,287 videos were reinstated, according to the report. The platform “removed and filtered” 976,479,946 comments also, using the safety tools.
“TikTok aggressively pursued spam accounts and related content, implementing robust measures to prevent the proliferation of automated spam accounts,” the company said, highlighting that 93.9 percent of videos violating guidelines were removed within 24 hours of posting with the removal rate resting at 99.8 percent globally.
TikTok also deleted 21,639,414 accounts suspected of belonging to children under the age of 13, the company said.
TikTok says took down 20 million videos in Pakistan this year for violating guidelines
https://arab.news/b4k3g
TikTok says took down 20 million videos in Pakistan this year for violating guidelines
- The video-sharing platform made the disclosure in its report for the first quarter of the year
- The app has been banned in Pakistan several times in past over ‘immoral, obscene’ content
Fear, shock grip southwestern Pakistan day after deadly separatist attacks
- Separatist militants carrying assault rifles stormed banks, jails, police stations and military installations, killing 31 civilians and 17 security personnel
- Mobile Internet, train services remained suspended across Pakistan’s Balochistan on Sunday, with major roads and businesses deserted after attacks
QUETTA: Residents in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta were in shock and feared more violence, they said on Sunday, following deadly separatist attacks that killed nearly 200 people, including militants, security personnel and civilians, in the Balochistan province.
Authorities in Balochistan are battling one of the deadliest flare-ups in years as ethnic Baloch separatists step up assaults on security forces, civilians and infrastructure in the resource-rich province bordering Iran and Afghanistan.
Separatist militants carrying assault rifles stormed banks, jails, police stations and military installations in a string of coordinated attacks in several cities of Balochistan, including the provincial capital of Quetta, early Saturday.
Officials said the attacks killed 31 civilians and 17 security personnel, while 145 militants were killed in skirmishes and follow-up operations. The assaults were claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group.
“The fear and anger are palpable in the city’s atmosphere following yesterday’s attacks at various locations in Quetta and other cities of Balochistan,” Zain Ali, a resident of Quetta’s Brewery Road, told Arab News on Sunday.
“We used to think that there is insurgency in Balochistan but Quetta is safe but that perception has been shattered.”
Balochistan has long been the site of a separatist insurgency that has intensified in recent years, with the BLA emerging as the most influential of separatist groups operating in the region.
The separatists, who frequently target security forces, foreigners, government officials and non-local Pakistanis, accuse the central government of stealing the region’s resources to fund development elsewhere in the country. The Pakistani government denies the allegations and says it is working for the uplift of local communities in Balochistan.
Saturday’s pre-dawn attacks by BLA targeted high-security government installations in Balochistan’s Quetta, Gwadar, Dalbandin, Pasni, Nushki, Kalat, Turbat and Mastung cities.
Ali, who teaches at a private school and stepped out of home to buy groceries on Sunday, said he experiences an “unexplainable fear” of a sudden ambush by armed men on his way to downtown Quetta.
“If the capital is not safe, how would you expect security in rural areas of Balochistan,” Zain said. “The government has to take decisive action against these elements.”
On Sunday, mobile Internet and train services remained suspended across the province, with major roads and businesses deserted after the attacks.
Hafiz Ameer Muhammad, a security guard at a government’s run bank in Quetta’s Hazar Ganji area, recounted the horror when the militants stormed the city’s busiest business market, attacking several bank branches and torching goods and equipment.
“They came here at 10am and fired upon the gate but we didn’t let them in,” he told Arab News. “They broke the window and got inside and threatened us to hand over the weapons or face death.”
Dr. Mansoor Tareen, a dentist at Quetta’s Liaquat Bazar, said he feared more such attacks.
“Unfortunately, the government is limited to media and newspapers,” he said.
Pakistan’s military said the attacks were launched by “Indian-sponsored Fitna al Hindustan,” a reference it uses for Baloch separatist groups. India has denied any involvement.
In a statement on Saturday, the BLA said it had launched “Operation Herof 2.0,” claiming responsibility for attacks at multiple locations across Balochistan. Saturday’s assaults were similar to coordinated attacks carried out by the group in Aug. 2024, which killed dozens of people in various districts of Balochistan.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti has vowed his government would not surrender and would fight the militants until they are eliminated.
“We will fight this war for 1,000 years,” he said on Sunday. “This country is ours. This is our motherland. We will fight for it.”
