KARACHI: The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has shut down Bego, a live streaming application for pornographic and immoral content, while issuing a "final warning" to video sharing service Tik Tak.
TuckTalk is a Chinese social networking application that allows users to create video clips, lip sync songs and make short videos, Dawn reported.
However, according to the PTA statement, the PTA has received numerous complaints from various sections of society regarding pornographic and immoral content on social media applications, especially Tik Tak and Begum, and its extremely negative impact on the younger generation.
According to the statement, the PTA issued notices to the above-mentioned social media companies to moderate immoral content in accordance with the country's laws and ethical limits, but the response of these companies was not satisfactory.
According to the PTA, therefore, exercising its powers under the PECA, the PTA has decided to immediately shut down Bego and issue a final notice to Tik Tak so that these companies can launch their social media applications. Develop a comprehensive approach to controlling pornography and immoral content.
It may be recalled that a miscellaneous petition was recently filed in the Lahore High Court for banning tick-tock talk, in which the video application was termed as a great temptation of the modern age and it was said that it was a matter of rating and popularity on social media. It is also becoming a means of spreading pornography.
Earlier this month, PTA temporarily shut down the online game player in Non-Battle Grounds (PubG). At the time, the PTA said in a statement that the authority had received various complaints about the game, saying it was addictive, a waste of time and a serious negative impact on children's mental and physical health. Causes effects.
However, various petitions have been filed against the ban so far.
Digital rights groups say there is no legal basis for censoring video games and no legal provision has been cited by the PTA to pursue the "ban".
A statement issued by Bolo Bhi said that although Article 37 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 empowers the PTA to block 'illegal online content', even an undesirable limitation of this provision The interpretation does not authorize the suspension of any video game for the reasons stated by the PTA.
The PTA's move was also opposed by Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, who said the culture of ban was "killing the technology industry".
"By the way, I am against all kinds of general sanctions. Such behavior is killing the technology industry. We cannot tolerate such sanctions," he wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
He hoped that IT Minister Syed Aminul Haq would take notice of the ban and instruct the PTA not to encourage such sanctions as it would be detrimental to the development of national technology on a long-term basis.
