Pakistani authorities have reinstated access to the Chinese-owned video app TikTok, three weeks after it was banned in the conservative Muslim country over indecent content.
A court in the northwestern city of Peshawar lifted the ban on April 1, and directed the media regulatory agency to ensure that "immoral content" is not uploaded to the platform.
"The app has assured us it will filter and moderate content," said Jahanzeb Mehsud, a lawyer for the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny as its popularity surged across the world, including among Pakistani youth.
The app has been downloaded almost 39 million times in the South Asian country.
The court in Peshawar had issued the ban on March 11 in response to a private petition requesting the video-sharing platform be blocked until it complies with instructions and guidelines the PTA gave last year.
In October, the regulatory agency banned the app but then lifted restrictions after 10 days after TikTok pledged to block all accounts involved in spreading "obscenity and immorality."
Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry on April 1 cautioned against "taking decisions that may affect the economic future of Pakistan," a close ally of China.
"We need a framework to encourage international companies to make Pakistan their investment hub," Chaudhry tweeted.
