PESHAWAR – The Peshawar High Court has directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to remove immoral content from TikTok and observed that there is also a need to activate the social media regulatory authority.
A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court comprising Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Khurshid Iqbal heard a petition filed by citizen Saqib Rehman against the rising trend of immoral content and indecent acts in Pashto during TikTok live sessions.
The petition stated that TikTok’s live features are being systematically used to promote corruption and obscenity.
It was argued that to increase viewership and earn money, users deliberately employ vulgar gestures, explicit and indecent language, abusive remarks, and degrading behavior toward women.
The petitioner further claimed that some TikTokers run such live programs from evening until late night, during which moral boundaries are severely violated.
Petitioner’s counsel, Nauman Mohib Kaka Khel, requested the court to direct TikTok management to take effective and immediate measures to curb immoral content.
PTA’s lawyer, Jahanzeb Mehsud, informed the court that the authority is blocking unlawful content on a regular basis. He added that a complaint portal for immoral content has been established and that TikTok has also set up an office in Islamabad, where action is taken against such material.
The court ordered TikTok to remove immoral content and remarked that institutions working under the PECA Act also need to be made active. With these directions, the court disposed of the writ petition.
