Pakistan court bans TikTok over obscenity

March 11 (UPI) -- The Peshawar High Court in Pakistan on Thursday issued a directive to ban TikTok over obscene content.

PHC Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan, who heard the petition filed by a citizen seeking a ban on the Chinese-owned video sharing app, ordered Pakistani authorities to immediately ban the app.

"TikTok videos are spreading obscenity. It [the app] should be shut down immediately," Khan ordered, The News International reported.

The judge said TikTok was "not acceptable for Pakistani society," and youth were most affected by it.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority tweeted Thursday that it has directed service providers to block the app.

In an earlier tweet, the PTA also refuted media reports that the PTA director told the court that authority had sent a request to TikTok, but had not received a "positive response."

"PTA representative didn't make any such remark in the court," PTA tweeted. "In fact, the report submitted to the court, which is part of the record, stated that TikTok is cooperating with PTA in regulating objectionable content."

PTA had previously banned TikTok in October after the company "failed to fully comply" with instructions to moderate "unlawful online content," but overturned its decision the same month. At the time, TikTok told PTA it would "block all accounts repeatedly involved in spreading obscenity and immorality."