Dictoc downloads have increased after 10 days of darkness in Pakistan

Ten days after blocking the popular short video sharing app Dictoc, Pakistan lifted its ban on Monday, causing a flood of new downloads, making it the third most popular app in the country.

The Telecommunications Authority of Pakistan (PTA) said it had restored Diktok’s actions after promising to block social media use of accounts containing “obscene and immoral” content and to moderate content “in accordance with social norms and laws of Pakistan”. Account.

In response to this news, Dictok’s downloads have risen to third place in the Censor Tower rankings on Apple’s App Store in Pakistan.

The controller had banned the use of unspecified complaints against immoral and indecent content, and for failing to create a failure of Dictoc.Satisfactory content tracking mechanism. ”

In doing so, Pakistan has joined the list of countries planning to ban or dictate US and India-led dictatorship over concerns over data privacy protection and relations between its China-based parent company Bite Dance Limited and Beijing.

But Pakistan was more concerned with policing the content of dictatorship and filtering out material that it deemed inappropriate domestically. The company said it took 6.5 million videos in Pakistan in the first half of 2020, which is 73% more than in the second half of 2019, according to its transparency report.

“We are pleased to see the resumption of use in Pakistan,” Dictok spokesman Kaisin said. “We will continue to create a secure Internet environment that supports the expressive and creative ability of Pakistani users.”

Dictok, known for its lip-syncing videos, has been downloaded 43 million times in Pakistan, making it the company’s 12th largest market for downloads. Market Research Institute Censor Tower.

Removal of Restrictions Following a virtual meeting between Diktok senior management and the PDA on October 12, the chairman of the authority demanded a deadline from the company to deliver the agreed measures.

Dictok faces A ban in the United States If it fails to reach an agreement to sell its US operations to an American company in November. India, then the company’s largest overseas market, banned the app in June, citing national security concerns in the wake of violent clashes on the China-India border, along with dozens of other Chinese applications.

The move to curb Chinese social media use in Pakistan, one of Beijing’s closest allies, is unusual because the two enjoy warm economic, diplomatic and military ties.

Pakistan is part of China’s ambitious belt and road infrastructure initiative, and China is the beneficiary of its investment in ongoing construction projects in the Pakistan Economic Corridor, a $ 10 billion strategy that includes transport networks, energy projects and special domestic economic zones.

Pakistan’s record of blocking foreign Internet companies precedes its action against Dictok. In 2016, it enacted a controversial cyber security law that gave authorities broad powers to remove online content that is considered “violating the pride of Islam or the integrity, security or security of Pakistan.”

In August, the PTA issued a statement calling on YouTube to immediately remove bad, indecent, immoral and hateful content in Pakistan. The video site owned by Google was blocked from 2012 to 2016 after officials became angry over anti-Islamic video.

Last month, the regulatory body banned several dating applications based on spreading “immoral and indecent content.”

Despite the uncertainty, Dictok was granted last-minute permission from US President Donald Trump’s executive order last month when a federal judge temporarily blocked the implementation of the ban.

Social media usage has repeatedly denied allegations that Byte Dance and its Chinese version share infrastructure, user data and instructions with Duine. It said Beijing had nothing in its content, which was managed by a California-based group.

The PTA has said it has the option to permanently block Dictok if he fails to deliver on his promises.

Contact reporter Annik Pao ([email protected])

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