As Oracle works to seal the deal on its acquisition of TikTok’s American operations, the video clip company keeps on getting more bad news. Now Pakistan has joined India and the United States in banning the service from its country.
But while American and Indian authorities moved to block TikTok out of concerns that it constituted some sort of national security threat due to its Chinese ownership, the Pakistanis based their move on a claim that the video service was somehow engaged in immoral activities.
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The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority released a statement saying, “in view of number of complaints from different segments of the society against immoral/indecent content on the video sharing application TikTok, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued instructions for blocking of the application. Keeping in view the complaints and nature of the content being consistently posted on TikTok,
“PTA issued a final notice to the application and gave considerable time to respond and comply with the Authority instructions for development of effective mechanism for proactive moderation of unlawful online content. However, the application failed to fully comply with the instructions, therefore, directions were issued for blocking of TikTok application in the country. However, the application failed to fully comply with the instructions, therefore, directions were issued for blocking of TikTok application in the country.”
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In view of number of complaints from different segments of the society against immoral/indecent content on the video sharing application TikTok, pic.twitter.com/Vmp5umixeL
— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) October 9, 2020
TikTok responded saying, “We have been in regular communication with the PTA and continue to work with them. We are hopeful to reach a conclusion that helps us continue to serve the country’s vibrant and creative online community.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is continuing in its efforts to block TikTok from operating in the U.S. Last month the American Commerce Department issued a ban on the service and ordered the app removed from the various platforms.
In an executive order back in August which gave TikTok 45 days to cease its U.S. operations President Trump wrote, “The spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People’s Republic of China (China) continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States.”
But TikTok appealed the order in Federal court and Judge Carl Nichols in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the company an injunction. Now Federal officials have announced an appeal of that judge’s order.
So what does all of this mean for the Oracle deal? Well if the American courts overturn the ban permanently then TikTok parent company ByteDance will no longer need to sell its American operations to an American company. And if Joe Biden wins the election on November 3, he might lift the ban.
