TikTok ban: Parents relieved, youngsters cry foul

LAHORE: The banning of TikTok application by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) continues to receive a mixed response from the general public and the film and showbiz industry on the social media.

Social media websites, including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, are snowed under with reactions against the PTA's decision. While the majority of people have opposed the ban, others have praised the government for blocking the Chinese-owned app.

Showbiz and TV artists, including super star Noor, renowned actor Imran Abbas and many others, took to the social media platform to express their sentiments. Imran Abbas praised this timely intervention from the state-run authority in his Instagram messages.

"2020 IS NOT SO BAD," he wrote and his caption accompanied a face with tears of joy emoji, suggesting that he was glad the video-sharing app had been banned in Pakistan. Film star Noor opined that TikTok was not only creating a bad influence on the young generation due to lack of check & balance on this cyber-generated platform, but was also creating a hurdle for the real artists in their work.

However, parents expressed their joy and a sense of relief over the ban. It was their common complaint, as now their kids won’t be wasting their valuable time in "Such a Non-Productive Activity".

Nevertheless, there has been a great hue & cry among the youngsters who are still mourning this 'Great Loss' and being deprived of a Great Platform to display their natural Talents to the world.

All said and done, it’s the general opinion of the educated community that the out-right ban on TikTok is a testimony to the fact that the authorities concerned responsible for keeping a check and balance on any sort of electronic communication and entertainment platforms, especially the cyber ones, miserably failed to devise any mechanism to keep a control on the influx of obscenity and indecent content being posted on the mobile phones related apps, thus, an out-right ban was the only toll they had to use.