Bizarre: Imran's Pakistan asked Tinder to 'remove dating service', then banned it & 4 more

Prime Minister Imran Khan-led 'Naya' Pakistan on Tuesday blocked five online dating and live streaming applications, including Tinder, for allegedly showing "immoral" content. The official announcement comes a day after internet users in the country faced issues in accessing the app on their phones with many believing that is was banned.

'Negative effects of immoral content'

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said in a statement that the action was taken against Tinder, Tagged, Skout, Grindr and SayHi after they failed to take down the improper material. It said that the apps were asked to remove "dating services" and moderate live streaming content "in accordance with the local laws of Pakistan" but they ignored the warning.

"Since the platforms did not respond to the notices within the stipulated time, therefore the authority issued orders for blocking of the said applications," the regulator said.

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However, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said it would reconsider blocking of the apps if their companies committed to following the laws of the country and moderated the "indecent" content. The PTA regularly takes action against sites for showing "immoral" content. It also takes action on complaints by the public against apps and websites.

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A couple of months back, it banned live streaming application Bigo and issued a "final warning" to video-sharing service TikTok over obscene material.

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It also banned PlayerUnknown's Battle Ground (PUBG) game on June 1 on complaints that it was addictive and students were wasting a lot of time playing the game. But the ban was revoked in July after the watchdog was given assurance that laws will be followed and parents' concerns would be addressed.

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(With PTI inputs)