Pak minister decries Sindh High Court order to ban TikTok, calls for judicial reforms

Islamabad [Pakistan], June 30 (ANI): Pakistan Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has slammed the recent Sindh High Court’s decision to ban the Chinese app TikTok, saying the country has suffered losses worth billions of dollars due to “judicial activism”.

In a tweet, the minister said the country would never be able to come out of an economic crisis unless judicial reforms were implemented, Dawn reported.

“My head is spinning after reading about the decision to ban TikTok and remove the NBP president. What are our courts doing? The country has already suffered losses worth billons of dollars due to judicial activism,” the minister said.

On Monday, the Sindh High Court ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to suspend access to TikTok in the country until the next hearing of the case, which is scheduled for July 8.

The court order said that the Chinese app had not abided by “the constant undertakings and assurances” given by it before various courts.

It also said that the platform failed to respect the law and basic injunctions of Islam as well as the culture of Pakistan and “recently started a social media campaign whereby they are celebrating ‘LGBT Pride Month'”.

In March, the Peshawar High Court had ordered PTA to ban TikTok for “spreading obscenity in society”. This order was given after hearing a petition against the social media platform.

Previously, TikTok was banned in October last year for a few days in Pakistan for ‘unethical content’. However, the PTA later restored TikTok with conditions and warnings that it adhere to the laws of the country, the platform should not be used for spreading vulgarity/indecent content, and values of society should also not be abused. (ANI)