Removal of blasphemous TikTok content ordered

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to immediately remove blasphemous and objectionable videos from TikTok on a petition seeking a permanent ban on the TikTok app in Pakistan.

The case was heard by a PHC two-member bench comprising Justice SM Atiq Shah and Justice Shakeel Ahmed.

Barrister Babar Shahzad Imran appeared in court on behalf of the petitioner, Imran, while PTA lawyer Jahanzeb Mehsud Advocate also appeared in court.

The petitioner’s counsel told the court that, although social media was a useful tool, some social media platforms had become a means of destroying decency and morals as well as insulting the glory of Islam in many countries, including Pakistan.

He said the TikTok application, a platform launched by a Chinese company that allows users to create and share short videos, was also becoming a tool for the destruction of religious values and that around 54.4 million Pakistani users were currently using TikTok with Pakistan ranking 7th in the world in its use. He also told the court that the platform violated Islamic principles by spreading anti-Islamic, insulting, obscene, indecent and communal content, which was against the Constitution of Pakistan, the PICA Act and PPC laws.

Referring to various past judgments of high courts and steps taken by the government, Barrister Babar said that, in March 2021, the PTA had banned it on the orders of the PHC but the company had been allowed to operate after it had assured the removal of objectionable content as well as the filtering of such videos. But, he said, it had not implemented the necessary steps to exclude content violating the laws of Pakistan.

PTA counsel Jahanzeb Mehsud told the court that he had submitted the comments today. The petitioner’s counsel informed the court that he had not seen the comments. The petitioner has requested a ban on TikTok in his petition and has objected to the blasphemy posts shared on TikTok.

Justice Shakeel Ahmed said that this was a very important issue and that objectionable and blasphemous content should not be shared. However, he said, positive content could be shared.

The petitioner’s counsel told the court that he was not against positive content-sharing on the app while the PTA’s counsel said hundreds of thousands of videos were shared on the app in a day and, if a blasphemous post is shared, it gets blocked.