Pakistan bans video sharing platform Tik Tok for content celebrating “LGBTQ-Pride Month”

The latest ban, the third within the last two years, will be applicable till at least July 8, which is the next date of hearing, reports The Nation.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) bench issued this order on Monday while hearing a “suit of declaration and injunctions” in which the petitioner had nominated the federal government, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and TikTok as respondents, the newspaper reported.

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) in March had also ordered the PTA to ban TikTok over “immoral content”. 

The PHC, however, lifted the ban on April 1 after the PTA told the court that it had raised the issue again with the TikTok’s administration, the newspaper reported.

Commenting on the previous court orders, the SHC noted that the PHC had lifted ban on TikTok in view of submissions by the representative of the defendant No 2, that is the PTA, but TikTok paid no heed to the constant undertakings and assurances given by them and the PTA before various courts, the newspaper reported.

“[TikTok is not] respecting the law and the basic injunctions of Islam as well as the culture of Pakistan, has recently started a social media campaign whereby they are celebrating ‘LGBT-Pride Month’," the order said.

“Let [a] notice be issued to the defendants as well as DAG [Deputy Attorney General] Pakistan for 08.07.2021 and till then the defendant No 2 [TikTok] is hereby directed to suspend the operations of and/or access to the TikTok application in Pakistan,” the order added.