The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) dismissed reports on Thursday regarding an alleged ban on TikTok in Pakistan, labeling the circulating notification as "false and misleading."
In a statement posted on the social media platform X, the PTA clarified that no such notification had been issued. The authority advised the public against sharing or relying on unverified information found on social media. The PTA urged citizens to seek authentic information only through its official website and verified social media platforms.
According to TikTok’s Q2 Community Guidelines Enforcement Report released on Thursday, the platform removed 23,243,711 videos in Pakistan between April and June 2026 for violating community guidelines. The report showed that 99.7% of the videos removed in Pakistan were detected and taken down proactively, while 94.5% were removed within 24 hours of posting. The video removal rate in the country was recorded at 1.1%.
The report also indicated that TikTok restored 519,075 videos in Pakistan after further review. Globally, the platform removed over 188.2 million videos during the same quarter, with automated detection technologies accounting for 99.5% of those removals.
The platform has a history of suspensions in Pakistan due to concerns over indecent and immoral content. The first ban occurred in October 2020 and was lifted 10 days later after the company promised to block accounts "spreading obscenity." A ban was also imposed by the PHC in March 2021 and lifted in April. In June 2021, the Sindh High Court ordered a suspension for "spreading immorality and obscenity," which was lifted three days later.
The PTA blocked access again in July 2021 due to a failure to remove "inappropriate content." In August 2021, the Islamabad High Court questioned the PTA’s authority to impose a blanket ban, suggesting that the same logic would require banning Google and YouTube. The court directed the PTA to consult the government to create a mechanism for such matters. The PTA eventually lifted the ban in November 2021 after TikTok provided assurances it would "control" the dissemination of "immoral and indecent content."
