PESHAWAR – The Peshawar High Court (PHC) instructed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to ensure the removal of any blasphemous and objectionable material from the social media platform TikTok.
A bench comprising Justice SM Atiq Shah and Justice Shakeel Ahmed oversaw the hearing of a petition seeking a permanent ban on TikTok in Pakistan.
The petition, filed by Advocate Imran Khan, urged the court to direct the PTA, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and Ministry of Information to ban TikTok for ongoing guideline breaches and constitutional violations.
The court focused on concerns about blasphemous and objectionable videos on TikTok. Jehanzaib Mehsud, representing the PTA, reported, “We have submitted our comments today.” The petitioner’s lawyer argued for a ban, stating, “While positive content is not opposed, the platform is also used to share blasphemous material.”
Justice Ahmed supported removing objectionable content, emphasizing, “Positive content should be shared, but there must be no place for objectionable material.”
During the hearing, PTA’s lawyer mentioned that blasphemous posts on TikTok were promptly blocked.
However, Justice Shah questioned the adequacy of these measures, asking, “Why isn’t content filtered in Pakistan as effectively as in the US and other countries?” He inquired about the possibility of a firewall to block blasphemous videos, to which PTA’s lawyer admitted, “We do not currently have such a system.”
The court stressed the national importance of the issue and urged the PTA to take proactive measures. PTA was ordered to remove all objectionable content from TikTok and submit a detailed report within seven days. The next hearing is scheduled for July 24.
