Pakistan said on Tuesday, 2 September, it has blocked Tinder, Grindr and three other dating apps for not adhering to local laws.
The state has decided to curb these online platforms which apparently disseminate “immoral content.”
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has issued notices to Tinder, Grindr, Tagged, Skout and SayHi seeking the removal of “dating services,” “keeping in view the negative effects of immoral/indecent content streaming,” reported Reuters.
The companies have not responded within the stipulated time.
Data analytics firm Sensor Tower shows Tinder has been downloaded more than 440,000 times, Grindr, Tagged and SayHi have been downloaded about 300,000 times and Skout 100,000 times in Pakistan within the last 12 months, said the media report.
PTA has already directed YouTube to “immediately block vulgar, indecent, immoral, nude and hate speech content for viewing in Pakistan.”
Video app TikTok and live-streaming app Bigo Live were also reprimanded over explicit content.
"If adults choose to be on an app, it is not for the state to dictate whether they should use it or not," said Shahzad Ahmad, director of Bytes For All, a Pakistani digital rights group, reported DW.com.
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