Pakistan deems dating software immoral, blocks Tinder, Grindr
03 September, 2020
Pakistan on Tuesday blocked access to Tinder and many other dating apps in a bid to regulate “immoral” and “indecent” content, just days after regulators threatened to turn off YouTube for similar reasons.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said it had barred users from accessing Tinder, Grindr, SayHi, Tagged and Skout following the social networking apps didn't “moderate... content relating” with Pakistan’s laws.
The PTA said the ban addressed the “negative effects of immoral/indecent content”.
Shahzad Ahmad, director of digital rights group Bytes For All, slammed the PTA’s “moral policing”.
“If adults want to be on an app, it is not for the state to dictate if they should utilize it or not,” Ahmad told AFP.
He described the ban as “a totally ridiculous move” that persons would find ways to circumvent.
Tinder did not immediately return a request for comment.
The PTA said the applications could request to have their blocks lifted if they show they are “moderating the indecent/immoral content through meaningful engagement”.
The regulator didn't specify what it meant by that engagement.
The other day, the PTA asked YouTube to immediately block all videos they consider “objectionable” from being accessed in the country.
The demand was criticised by rights campaigners who fear creeping censorship and control of Pakistan’s internet and printed media.
And in July, authorities issued your final warning to Chinese-owned social media application TikTok, ordering it to filter any obscene content.
The Muslim-majority country has several existing or proposed restrictions that target free speech, usually in the name of Islam or national security.
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