A Big no-no to Tinder and other apps in Pakistan

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority banned Tinder, Grindr, and other dating apps on September 1st as they felt that these apps were advertising ''immoral content". The country has blocked the apps as they were not following the local laws. 

Apart from Tindr and Grindr, the other apps that are banned are Skout, SayHi, and Tagged. The PTA sent notices to these apps on Tuesday for them to be removed and stop their "dating services" and moderate their live streaming content following the local laws. Over the last year, Tinder was downloaded 440,000 times in the country, while Grindr, SayHi, and Tagged were each downloaded 300,000 times and Skout was downloaded 100,000 times. Tinder, the world's most famous dating app is owned by Match Group and Tagged and Skout is owned by Meet Group.

A country where homosexuality and extra-marital relationships are illegal, this is not the first app that Pakistan is banning. In July, PTA had issued a "warning notice" to the app TikTok, for removing the "explicit content" that was shared through. It had also blocked the live streaming app Bigo Live for 10 days for the same reason. Last week, the PTA also asked the streaming giant YouTube to remove all "objectionable videos" so that it will be inaccessible around the country.

Several journalists voiced their concern about the road that the PTA was taking. Moeed Pirzaada, a local journalist and TV anchor said that "PTA is creating undemocratic trends; courts need to stop PTA", he tweeted on Wednesday. Another local journalist, Amber Shamsi said the PTA was on a "moral policing spree", wondering what the authority will ban next.

These demands were not taken well by the right campaigners who are afraid of the creeping censorship and control of Pakistan's internet and printed media.

Like said before, this is not the first restriction that has happened in Pakistan. Other curtailments have been made targetting free press, most of it in the name of Islam and national security.