ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani religious scholars and civil society groups are lauding the government's decision to ban the Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok because of its "vulgar" content.
Pakistan on October 9 banned TikTok in the country after a "number of complaints from different segments of society over the immoral/indecent content" on the social media platform, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the state-run telecommunications regulator, said in a statement.
TikTok, which allows users to share short videos, is owned by Byte Dance, a Beijing-based internet technology company.
The PTA said in July that Pakistan would ban the app unless it cracked down on content it deemed "immoral, obscene and vulgar". At the time, it issued a final warning to the company.
A group of concerned residents in September file a petition at the Peshawar High Court to demand the banning of TikTok. [Zia Ur Rehman]
TikTok finally was prohibited in Pakistan after the government received numerous complaints from parents, said Dr. Shahbaz Gill, special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Political Communication.
"The Prime Minister's Portal received numerous complaints from parents saying that their children were adopting indecent activities due to the short-video app, which are against the religious, social, and traditional norms of Pakistani society," he said.
Mocking religion
The ban has seen support from politicians, religious scholars, and civil society groups in Pakistan.
In July, Rabia Nusrat, a member of the Punjab Assembly, submitted a resolution in her provincial legislature, seeking a ban on TikTok.
"The indecent and vulgar language being used on TikTok will have a negative impact on society," Nusrat said. "The app has not only been used to commit blackmail but also to mock religion."
"Pakistan's religious groups support the government's move to ban TikTok because it is not only negatively affecting Pakistan's society but mocking religion too," said Maulana Usman Makki, a Karachi-based religious scholar.
Foreign tech companies, particularly Chinese firms, should respect society and religion and not allow content that creates unrest among a country's residents, said Makki.
The Pakistan Citizens Organisation (PCO), a Peshawar-based civil society group that organized protests and filed a petition at the Peshawar High Court to outlaw TikTok, welcomed the move.
Most Pakistanis support the government's move to ban the platform because it promotes various activities that violate the codes of Islamic life, Asim Asmat, one of the PCO's leaders, said in Peshawar on October 10.
"TikTok was diverting youth to a frivolous attitude and causing an increase in suicides," Asmat said.
A number of young Pakistanis have died while filming videos for the app. In June, Tanveer Ali, 19, accidentally shot and killed himself while filming a clip for TikTok in the Sikandar Goth neighborhood of Karachi.