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Pakistan Lifts Ban on TikTok, Albeit With a Warning

© AP Photo / Kiichiro SatoA logo of a smartphone app TikTok is seen on a user post on a smartphone screen Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, in Tokyo.
A logo of a smartphone app TikTok is seen on a user post on a smartphone screen Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, in Tokyo.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 01.04.2021
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Pakistan imposed a ban on TikTok for propagating "immoral" content via its platform earlier this year. TikTok, an app that allows users to lip-sync to movie dialogues or songs with fancy filters to enhance the backgrounds, is used by over 20 million users in Pakistan.

Referring to the Peshawar High Court judgment as a testament to TikTok's continued commitment to promote a safe and positive community online, the video-making app has announced the resumption of its services in Pakistan from Thursday afternoon.

"TikTok is excited to be able to continue enabling Pakistani voices and creativity as we work to support the success story of Pakistan", the company said in a statement soon after the Peshawar High Court lifted ban on the app on Thursday morning.

The app owned by ByteDance underlined that support from Pakistan's authorities will allow the company to explore further investment in the country and to keep open vital economic opportunities for Pakistani creators through TikTok.

Pakistan's Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry cautioned the authorities against "taking decisions that may affect the economic future of Pakistan".

"We need a framework to encourage international companies to make Pakistan their investment hub", he said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the Chinese platform has hired a focal person for content policy who will monitor all "objectionable" and illegal content uploaded to the app.

While delivering the judgement on Thursday, the Peshawar High Court said that Pakistan's Telecommunication Authority should have a system in place to "differentiate between good and bad content".

"Open TikTok in the country but immoral content should not be uploaded", said the Peshawar High Court while issuing the order.

The telecom regulator has so far blocked access to around 500,000 of what it deems objectionable videos on TikTok.

Last month, the high court had directed the telecom authority to ban the Chinese-made app in the country for allegedly spreading immoral content through the platform.

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