113,000 TikTok Accounts Blocked by PTA in Effort to Curb Obscenity

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) recently submitted a comprehensive report to the Peshawar High Court, outlining the actions it has taken to monitor and curb obscene and blasphemous content on social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter). PTA has now blocked over 113,000 accounts on TikTok. This report was presented as part of an ongoing effort to address concerns regarding the spread of content deemed inappropriate or offensive on digital platforms accessible in Pakistan.

The PTA’s report highlights significant actions taken over the past few years, particularly on popular platforms like TikTok. Since 2020, the PTA has reported over 114,015 uploads of explicit content on TikTok alone. In response, the authority blocked a total of 113,133 accounts involved in sharing such material. The PTA stated that it is upholding community standards on social media and ensuring a safe and respectful environment for users in Pakistan.

PTA Blocked 113,000 TikTok Accounts in Effort to Curb Obscenity

Blasphemous content, which is highly sensitive in the country, has also been a major focus of the PTA’s monitoring activities. According to the report, the PTA identified and blocked 2,463 posts containing material considered blasphemous. The agency works closely with social media companies to quickly flag and remove this type of content, given the potential for social unrest and offence in the broader community.

The report provides detailed data on actions taken specifically in 2023, showing a continued effort to address these issues. Within this period, the PTA recorded 25,267 new instances of explicit content on TikTok, leading to the blocking of 24,800 accounts involved in sharing or uploading these posts. This demonstrates the PTA’s active approach in monitoring and swiftly responding to new content flagged as inappropriate or explicit.

Across other social media platforms, the PTA report shows an extensive reach of its content moderation actions. Between 2020 and 2023, a total of 1,389,181 instances of obscene content were reported across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X. Out of these, the PTA successfully blocked 1,303,578 links containing such content. Platform-specific actions included the blocking of 147,579 links on Facebook, 22,357 on Instagram, 125,600 on TikTok, 53,162 on YouTube, and 53,842 on X. These figures underscore the extensive scale of the PTA’s content monitoring and its ongoing collaboration with social media platforms to uphold content standards.

See Also: Displaying Weapons on TikTok? Beware as You May be Under Surveillance

To maintain and improve these efforts, the PTA is continuously engaging with social media companies to streamline the process of reporting and removing content that violates local standards. The PTA emphasized that it regularly communicates with these companies to ensure swift action against content that might otherwise slip through the platforms’ automated moderation systems. This collaboration is crucial to effectively curb the proliferation of inappropriate content on platforms widely used by Pakistani audiences.

The PTA’s report to the court represents a broader commitment to managing digital content that aligns with the country’s cultural and social values. While some argue for more lenient content guidelines in line with global standards, the PTA’s actions reflect the regulatory body’s priority to protect societal norms and ensure responsible usage of social media within Pakistan’s legal framework. The court acknowledged the report and provided further guidance on maintaining these standards, as the PTA continues to adapt to the evolving landscape of social media in Pakistan.