Religious ministry asks PTA to block blasphemous, indecent content on social media

The religious affairs ministry has urged the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block indecent and blasphemous content on social media and online platforms.

“It has been learnt with serious concern that Pakistan is one of the leading countries in terms of viewing pornographic content, which is highly alarming, especially in light of its negative impact on public morality and well-being of our society,” the ministry said in a letter to the PTA .

Earlier this month, the authority told the Peshawar High Court that it had blocked around 113,133 TikTok accounts for uploading explicit videos. An additional 2,463 posts featuring blasphemous material were also blocked.

Four years ago, the country blocked Tinder, Grindr and three other dating apps for not adhering to local laws as part of its move to curb online platforms deemed to be disseminating “immoral content”.

Despite the PTA’s measures to block such content in line with the Supreme Court orders (January 2016, May 2016 and March 2018), the letter said that it has been observed that “pornographic and blasphemous material is still readily accessible” on multiple online platforms.

According to the ministry, online access to such content “violates the cultural and religious values” and undermines efforts to protect citizens, particularly young people, from exposure to harmful material.

It added that such a situation raised “serious concerns” regarding the adherence to the directives of the Supreme Court and the authority’s “ability to effectively