The Pakistan’s Telecommunication Agency (PTA) has issued a warning to video-sharing application Tik Tok due to its vulgar and obscene content. It has also blocked Bigo, a live streaming platform where users are able to share live moments with followers. Taking to its official Twitter hand, the Pakistan Telecommunication Agency posted, “A number of complaints had been received from different segments of the society against immoral, obscene & vulgar content on social media applications particularly Tik Tok and Bigo, & their extremely negative effects on the society in general & youth in particular.” It had already sent necessary notices to the social media companies, who failed to comply to the conditions.
Press Release: Number of complaints had been received from different segments of the society against immoral, obscene & vulgar content on social media applications particularly Tik Tok and Bigo, & their extremely negative effects on the society in general & youth in particular. pic.twitter.com/Zow1EuLj4N
— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) July 20, 2020
PTA on Twitter
“Press Release: Number of complaints had been received from different segments of the society against immoral, obscene & vulgar content on social media applications particularly Tik Tok and Bigo, & their extremely negative effects on the society in general & youth in particular.”
twitter.com
PTA’s post on the micro-blogging site added, “PTA had issued necessary notices to the aforementioned social media companies under law to moderate the socialization and content within legal and moral limits, in accordance with the laws of the country. However, the response of these companies has not been satisfactory.” It continued, “In exercise of its powers under #PECA, PTA has decided to immediately block Bigo and issue final warning to Tik Tok to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to control obscenity, vulgarity and immorality through its social media application.”
Good step. A little bit of regulation is indeed needed on tik tok.
— Aamna Hassan Fasihi (@AamnaFasihi) July 20, 2020
What is the "good step" here?
If these decisions are by logic, why aren't we seeing same logic being applied to Facebook, Youtube, Twitter etc.?
Can't you find any "vulgar, obscene etc." content on these platforms?
Banning the whole platform is never the solution.
— ???? ???? ????? (@saimali_2001) July 20, 2020
How is it a good step ? You can find immoral content on instagram, yt, fb everywhere. Tiktok pe decent content bhi hai. Hr chez ka solution ban nai hota.
Aise decisions ki waja se these big companies will never think to invest in Pakistan.— ??? (@iam_saadbaig) July 21, 2020
This development has received mixed reactions from internet users. Some fully supported the decision. “Good step. A little bit of regulation is indeed needed on Tik Tok,” wrote one user. However, another begged to differ. “What is the “good step” here? If these decisions are by logic, why aren’t we seeing same logic being applied to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc? Can’t you find any “vulgar, obscene etc.” content on these platforms? Banning the whole platform is never the solution.” Adding to this, one more user also shared that banning is not the way forward. “How is it a good step? You can find immoral content on instagram, yt, fb everywhere. Tiktok pe decent content bhi hai. Hr chez ka solution ban nai hota. Aise decisions ki waja se these big companies will never think to invest in Pakistan.”
Block immediately to save society from social disaster. pic.twitter.com/upRMeKcZ0E
— Rehan Quraishi (@RQuraishi50) July 21, 2020
The problem is that even if u block it in here people will access it through VPN as is the case with PUBG so try to figure out this VPN problem also…..#TikTok #pubgban
— Arslan Khan (@arslankhanly) July 21, 2020
How do you measure the 'extremely negative effects on the society in general & youth in particular' ?
— Sophia Hasnain (@sophasnain) July 20, 2020
Bhai agr tik tok ko warning mil skti ha to PUBG ko b mil skti ha. Usy ban krny ki kya zrurt??
— Usman (@apka_bhaiii) July 21, 2020
http://thebrownidentity.com/2020/07/11/dubais-new-media-academy-launches-youtube-programme-for-the-youth/
One user posted a picture of the Tik Tok download app and wrote, “Block immediately to save society from social disaster.” But a user named Arslan Khan retorted back, “The problem is that even if u block it in here people will access it through VPN as is the case with PUBG so try to figure out this VPN problem also….. #TikTok#pubgban.” Questioning PTA’s decision, a post read, “How do you measure the ‘extremely negative effects on the society in general & youth in particular’?” Many asked for the video game PUBG to be unblocked too. “If Tik Tok can receive a warning, so could PUBG but it was immediately banned.” The hash tag #UnBanPUBG has also been trending high on Twitter since PTA’s announcement. What do you think about the banning of Bigo and the final warning issued to Tik Tok? Is this the solution? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!