China hails Pakistan’s lifting of TikTok ban

China has welcomed the decision to lift ban on TikTok, a popular Chinese video-sharing social networking service, after receiving assurance that the company would block all accounts repeatedly involved in spreading obscenity and immortality.

“We have noted the relevant report. The Chinese government always maintains the companies operating overseas should strictly abide by international law and local rules,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during his regular briefing while commenting on the issue.

He said, these companies should fully respect local customs, practice and their religion.

“We glad that two sides can properly deal with the relevant issue through amicable solutions,” he added.

Earlier this month, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had issued instructions to impose a ban on TikTok after receiving a "number of complaints from different segments of the society against immoral/indecent content" that was shared on the app.

The PTA said it had earlier issued a “final notice” to TikTok and gave the application "considerable time to respond and comply with" instructions for development of an effective mechanism for proactive moderation of "unlawful online content".

However, on Monday, the PTA said that it had decided to lift the ban on popular social media app after the company vowed to block all accounts involved in spreading “obscenity and immorality.

“TikTok has agreed to moderate accounts in accordance with local laws,” a spokesman for the PTA said, adding that the app had some 20 million monthly active users in the country.

TikTok was the third most-downloaded app in Pakistan over the past 12 months, behind WhatsApp and Facebook, according to analytics firm SensorTower.

The PTA had said it was open to discussions with TikTok if the company was willing to moderate unlawful content.

TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, has become hugely popular in a short period of time, by encouraging young users to post brief videos.

But the app has been mired in controversy in a number of countries, with authorities raising privacy concerns and security fears.