TikTok removes 15m videos from Pakistan for violating Community Guidelines in Q2 2022

October 8, 2022

ISLAMABAD: TikTok, world’s leading short-form video sharing platform on social media, has removed more than 15 million videos from Pakistan for violating Community Guidelines in the second quarter of the current year (Q2 2022).

With 15,351,388 videos removed, Pakistan ranked second in the world for the largest volume of videos taken down for Community Guidelines violations from 1 April 2022 to 30 June 2022.

According to the latest Community Guidelines Enforcement Report; from Pakistan, 97% of videos were removed within 24 hours of being posted for violating Community Guidelines, 98% were removed before a user reported them, and 97% were removed before having any views.

TikTok is opening state-of-the-art cyber-incident monitoring and investigative response centers in Washington DC, Dublin, and Singapore this year.

The short-video platform has released its latest Community Guidelines Enforcement Report for Q2 2022 (April-June 2022), building on its commitment to a multi-pronged approach to stop misinformation on the app.

The report reflects the platform’s ongoing commitment to earn trust by being accountable while working to be safe and welcoming.

The latest iteration of the report shows improvements made in countering misinformation and efforts made in the investment in digital literacy education to help get ahead of the problem at scale.

In the second quarter of 2022, 113,809,300 videos were removed globally, which represents merely 1% of all videos uploaded to TikTok. Pakistan, with 15,351,388 videos removed for violating Community Guidelines, ranked second in the world for the largest volume of videos taken down in Q2 2022.

In addition to removing accounts for violating Community Guidelines, the platform also removed accounts determined to be spam, along with spam videos posted by those accounts. It also took proactive measures to prevent spam accounts from being created through automated means.

Since last quarter, TikTok identified 33 new misinformation claims, resulting in the removal of 58,000 videos from the platform globally.

In the second quarter of 2022, the total volume of ads removed for violating advertising policies and guidelines decreased.

This is due in part to efforts to strengthen account-level detection and enforcement strategies, which have helped improve the ads ecosystem and create better experiences for both users and advertisers.

To further reiterate its commitment to fighting misinformation and ensuring safety, TikTok is introducing a new penalty system where if someone violates one of its Community Guidelines, their account will accrue a strike for this specific policy violation.

The platform will keep a count of the number of strikes accumulated, and if the person continues posting violative content, they will be permanently banned. The number of strikes leading to a permanent ban depends on the severity of the violation, and the number of total violations.

To learn more about content guidelines, tools and policies on TikTok, refer to the Community Guidelines, also available in Urdu language. (Edited by Khadijah Kamili)

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Interior Ministry asks ECP to postpone Oct 16 by-polls for 90 days

Sara Maqsood

October 8, 2022

ISLAMABAD: The Interior Ministry has demanded the postponement of the by-polls scheduled to be held on October 16 due to law and order situation which is possibly to rise as a long march announced by the political party.

The ministry penned a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to postpone the by-elections which are going to be held on October 16 in various constituencies of the country for 90 days, saying that a “political party” was planning to “besiege” the Islamabad this month.

In a letter written to ECP, the interior ministry stated that “Due to the recent torrential rains, accompanied by the melting of resulting in cataclysmic floods and heavy loss of human lives, crops, homes and infrastructural damage such as roads and bridges. Inundation has made access to certain areas close to impossible.”

“On top, waterborne diseases including dengue fever and threatening infectious illnesses have made things worse. As you are aware, relief and rescue operations have been launched on a massive scale by the Pakistan Amy and Frontier Corps (FC) in coordination with the National and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities and other authorities,” it said.

“The Federation and the provinces hardest hit have directed all available resources toward the rehabilitation of flood-displaced people,” it added.

The Interior Ministry further stated that on the basis of credible reports by intelligence agencies, it has transpired that a political party is planning to besiege the Federal Capital between October 12th and October 17th, which coincides with the date of October 16, 2022, on which bye-elections are scheduled to be held.

“Needless to say, this would require the maximum deployment of all available troops to maintain peace in the capital city,” it added.

“In view of the prevailing circumstances mentioned, to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and it is requested to further extend the date of bye-elections for a period of 90 days or as deemed fit by the ECP, ” it said.

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Maryam Nawaz gets emotional as she meet father after three years in London

TNT Monitoring Desk

October 7, 2022

LONDON: Emotional scenes were witnessed in British Capital when Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Vice President Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) met her father and Party Supremo, Nawaz Sharif and brothers Hassan, Hussain Nawaz Sharif and other family members at the Avenfield apartments here after three years.

At arrival Maryam Nawaz received a rousing welcome from the party workers outside the Avenfield apartments. She thanked the party activists for the welcome. However, she could not talk to the media owing to the rush and stepped inside the building.

According to sources, Maryam reached the Avenfield House around 11:30pm (PST).

Earlier, when she arrived at the airport, she was received by her son, Junaid Safdar, daughter-in-law Aisha, and other members of the Sharif family.

The PML-N vice president travelled to the UK after receiving her passport back from the Lahore High Court earlier this week after the court took her travel document on an application submitted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills Limited case.

The passport was “confiscated” by LHC for more than three years in a case that Maryam termed “was never filed” by NAB.

While leaving for the UK, Maryam said she was excited to meet her father.

Before leaving, the PML-N leader offered fateha at the graves of her grandparents and mother.

According to sources in the Sharif family, Maryam will be staying in London for a month, after which she is expected to return to Pakistan along with her father.

The last time the PML-N leader was in London was when her mother Begum Kulsoom Nawaz was hospitalized.

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Accountability court cancels Ishaq Dar’s arrest warrant

Tanzeel Ahmed

October 7, 2022

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Friday cancelled Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s arrest warrant in the assets beyond means case filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The cancellation orders were issued after the minister appeared before Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir with his lawyer Qazi Misbah. The court also directed the minister to submit surety bonds of Rs1 million.

At the outset of the hearing, Misbah asked the court to permanently cancel his client’s arrest warrant and the order to confiscate his assets.

The lawyer told the court that it had issued the arrest warrants so Dar appears before the court, adding that they should be cancelled now as the minister is present before the court.

“Did NAB also issue arrest warrants of Ishaq Dar,” Judge Bashir asked the anti-corruption watchdog’s prosecutor.

Anti-graft’s body responded in the affirmative but clarified that the warrants were suspended.

“What is your point of view now, should the warrants be cancelled or not?” asked the judge.

At this question, the NAB prosecutor supported the cancellation of warrants, adding that they were issued to ensure Dar’s appearance in the case.

The judge then remarked that it will have to indict Dar once again as a supplementary reference has also been filed against him.

To this, Dar’s lawyer stated that they will give arguments on the supplementary reference.

Before adjourning the case till October 12, the court issued notices to NAB over the application filed against the confiscation of Dar’s property and permanent exemption from attendance.

The court has ordered NAB to present its arguments at the next hearing on both applications.

Accountability court suspends Dar’s arrest warrant
Last week, the court had suspended the arrest warrants of Dar till October 7.

Accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir issued the orders and directed the authorities to not arrest the minister upon his arrival in Pakistan.

The judge said that once Dar returns to Pakistan, the court will see whether it should revoke his arrest orders or not.

“The arrest warrants will be permanently suspended once Dar appears before the court in person,” the judge said.

The politician moved the accountability court after the Supreme Court dismissed Dar’s appeal in a corruption case following his decision to withdraw the plea.

In 2017, an accountability court, while hearing a corruption reference against Dar, declared him a proclaimed offender due to his continued absence from the proceedings.

The former finance minister was elected as a PML-N senator on a technocrat seat in the Senate election on March 3, 2018.

However, he had not yet taken oath as a senator since 2017. The accountability court had declared Dar an absconder in a corruption reference.

On December 11, 2017, the accountability had declared the PML-N leader a proclaimed offender in a NAB reference due to his continued absence from the proceedings. The national anti-graft watchdog accused Dar of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The case was filed by NAB in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.

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Premier Shehbaz lauds Muslim World League’s role for promotion of inter-faith harmony

Sara Maqsood

October 6, 2022

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday appreciated the efforts of the Muslim World League and its leadership for playing an important role in uniting the Muslim Ummah and spreading the message of peace, tolerance and inter-faith harmony.

The prime minister said this in a meeting with the Secretary General of the Muslim World League Sheikh Dr Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, who called him here.

Sheikh Dr Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa is visiting Pakistan from October 5-14, 2022.

The prime minister highlighted that the role played by Saudi Arabia, the Muslim World League and its secretary general for important Muslim causes, especially on Palestine and Kashmir, was commendable.

Highlighting the devastating impact of the floods in Pakistan on more than 33 million people all across Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz appreciated the support provided by Saudi Arabia to Pakistan during those hard times.

He said that Pakistan attached great importance to its relationship with Saudi Arabia which is rooted firmly in common religion, shared values and culture.

Extending best wishes to the secretary general for his ongoing visit, the prime minister assured him and his delegation of his full support during their stay in Pakistan.

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Court approves interim bail of Imran Khan in threat to female judge case

Sara Maqsood

October 6, 2022

ISLAMABAD: District and Sessions Court of Islamabad has approved the interim bail plea of PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the case regarding his controversial remarks against a female judge during a rally in Islamabad, till October 13.

Khan was booked in a case for threatening judicial magistrate Zeba Chaudhry and police officers at a rally in F-9 Park on August 20, to “terrorise” police officials and the judiciary.

The main aim was to prevent the police officers and judiciary from carrying out their legal obligations, stated the FIR. The FIR was registered on the complaint of Magistrate Ali Javed at Islamabad’s Margalla Police Station under Section 7 of ATA.

However, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) quashed the terror charges and directed to transfer the case to a relevant court under the remaining sections in the FIR on September 19.

Following the order the anti-terrorism court, on September 20, transferred the case to a sessions court and removed the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) section from the case.

On September 22, during a hearing of a contempt case in IHC, Imran Khan also requested the court to allow him to apologise to judge Zeba Chaudhry in person.

Later, a magistrate of Islamabad’s Margalla Police Station issued the arrest warrant for PTI Chief Imran Khan due to his non-appearance in court. However, Khan acquired protective bail from the IHC till October 7.

Imran Khan appeared before the court of sessions judge Kamran Basharat in person, shortly after his lawyer Babar Awan filed the bail plea on his behalf, just a day before the expiry of his protective bail from IHC.

The judge approved the bail plea of the PTI chief till October 13 against surety bonds of Rs 50,000.

Awan, while speaking to media after the hearing, said that all the cases against Khan are false.

“PTI is returning [to power] with one-third majority. If there is anyone who could bring the change, it is Imran Khan,” he said.

The lawyer said that the PTI chief has never ever stated an excuse for being ill.

Awan went on to say that the cypher is an “interference and conspiracy.”

“We don’t accept anyone who talks against Pakistan,” he said.

Speaking about the PTI’s long march call, Awan said that they will soon march towards Islamabad but Imran Khan will tell exactly when.

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Premier Shehbaz seeks ‘climate justice’ from rich polluting nations

Nuzhat Aftab

October 6, 2022

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan should not be forced to go out with a “begging bowl” to rich polluting nations after the floods devastated the country, stressing that he would be seeking “climate justice” from the international community.

In the second part of his interview, Premier Shehbaz arif warned that Pakistan is facing an unprecedented crisis of health, food security and internal displacement after the “apocalyptic” monsoons put a third of Pakistan’s regions under water.

With Pakistan responsible for 0.8% of global carbon emissions, Sharif said it was the “responsibility of the developed countries, who caused these emissions, to stand by us”.

“I’ve never seen this kind of devastation, inundation and suffering of our people in my lifetime,” he said. “Millions have been displaced, they have become climate refugees within their own country.”

While the international community has given billions in funds and donations and commitments for further support, Sharif was clear it was “not enough”.

“The enormity of this climate-induced catastrophe is beyond our fiscal means,” he said. “The gap between our needs and what is available is too wide and it is widening by the day.”

More than nine million people have been displaced and over two million homes destroyed, and millions of families have been forced to live in makeshift tents or shelters on roadsides.

The extent of the damage has been put at between $30bn and $35bn but Sharif said it was “a rough estimate, it could be more”, with more than 30,000 km of roads destroyed along with bridges, railways and power lines, as well as 4 million hectares (10m acres) of crops washed away.

“Let me be clear, this is about climate justice,” said Sharif. “We are not blaming anybody, we’re not casting allegations, what we are we saying is this is not of our making but we have become a victim. Should I be asked to cast my appeal into a begging bowl? That is double jeopardy. That’s unjust, unfair.”

PM Sharif expressed confidence that Pakistan would not get defaulted despite the upcoming billions of foreign debt repayments, and the billions more in flood damages. “No way. We will not default,” he said.

Sharif confirmed that the government would be talking to “everybody” about the possibility of foreign debt moratorium. “What we are asking for is fiscal space but not through the burden of more debt,” he said.

PM Shehbaz mentioned that due to vastness of the flood situation and big distances among the affected areas, the government was still struggling to overcome the challenges.

He emphasized that the government was disbursing flood relief funds among the affected people through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in a transparent manner.

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Containers arranged to seal Islamabad ahead of PTI long march

Tanzeel Ahmed

October 6, 2022

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Police have arranged 1,100 containers to seal the federal capital in view of the Tehreek e Insaf long march, the police officials on Thursday.

According to Islamabad police officials, the capital city would be completely sealed for a period of one week after the announcement of march’s date by the party.

Similarly the government had decided to shut down schools and colleges and postpone exams during the march.

As many as 2,500 personnel of the police and of other law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) would be deployed in the city, and all of them would have 50, 000 rubber bullets, they disclosed.

Furthermore, the LEAs had already been provided over 60,000 teargas shells, they informed.

Besides that, the sources disclosed that 10 drones had been arranged for dropping shells on the protestors.

Police officials also said that for the first time in the country’s history, anti-riot helicopter would be used.

Not only that, the security agencies had prepared lists of PTI’s financers in order to arrest them before the march, they concluded.

Although, initially there were doubts that whether the PTI would go ahead with its planned long march.

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Azam Khan says he gave missing cypher to Imran Khan, reveals Ishaq Dar

Palwasha Mustafa

October 1, 2022

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Saturday revealed that Principal Secretary Azam Khan has admitted that he gave the diplomatic cypher to PTI chief Imran Khan, which had been “stolen” from the records of the Prime Minister’s House.

Accusing the PTI for the missing cypher, Dar said: “The cypher is missing from the archives and the audio leaks have laid bare their plan.”

The finance minister was addressing a press conference flanked by the top brass of the PML-N, including Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.

The finance minister blamed the previous PTI government for economically devastating the country, saying that they [PTI] have brought the economy where all the macroeconomic indicators are blinking red.

“Imran Khan pauperised the country and brought to the brink of default,” he said, claiming that his ultimate agenda was the “total annihilation” of the country.

The finance minister said that the Official Secret Act was violated.

“Khan is solely responsible for this whole travesty,” he maintained, adding that if we do not take action to bring this matter to its logical conclusion, then it would be another breach of the Constitution.

He further revealed that the cabinet has inspected all aspects in this regard in detail. “The minutes that were created regarding the diplomatic cypher are present; however, the original document is missing,” Dar added.

“This proves that conspiracy was not hatched by the incumbent coalition government instead the PTI was behind this,” he said, adding that a meeting of the National Security Committee has also been held in this regard.

Playing the purported audio leak of the former prime minister, Dar said: “We will betray our constitution if we do not take it to its logical end.

“The mess created in four years could not be cleaned in four-five months; however, our efforts will be to stop the destruction and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s team is working to provide relief to the masses.”

Maryam, at the beginning of her address, expressed her happiness that people got a huge relief, alluding to the petrol price cut announced by Dar a day earlier.

“I do not want to say his [Imran Khan’s] name, but I am forced to, so that truth comes before the nation,” she said, calling him a “protagonist” as well as the “mastermind of this conspiracy against Pakistan”.

The PML-N vice president said that the more one listens to Khan’s leaked audio, the more they know what a “heinous game” the PTI chief played against Pakistan.

Regarding the previous audio leaks of the incumbent government, Maryam said that no matter how many audios of PML-N leaders are leaked none of the leaders will be heard speaking against the country.

“PML-N will never compromise on the security of Pakistan,” she asserted.

Recalling Khan’s ouster, Maryam said that when the PTI chief realised that his party members were turning against him and he was about to lose his power, Khan started spreading his “foreign conspiracy” narrative.

“Since day one I knew that he [Khan] was lying as he is the biggest liar of this century,” she said, adding that this wasn’t just conspiracy but this was also “tampering”.

Accusing the former prime minister of forging the sensitive documents of Pakistan, she said that Khan conspired against the foreign policy of Pakistan.

“PM Shehbaz told me that no country is ready to write a letter to Pakistan because of this fitna Khan [Imran Khan],” Maryam said, adding that other countries are afraid of communicating with Pakistan.

The PML-N vice president further added that the audio leaks are enough to indict Khan for his wrongdoings.

“You can look at the Supreme Court’s verdict, Khan even violated the order of the apex court while leaving his office,” she mentioned, adding that the highest court of the country has given its ruling against the former premier.

“The nation has been held hostage by this evil mind since last four years,” she asserted.

Maryam suggests Bani Gala should be raided to recover cypher
The PML-N vice president said that the PTI has hired a lobbying and PR firm for $25,000 per month to build its public and media relations in the United States.

Maryam said that Khan has been labelled as a traitor. “Even an animal is loyal to its owner but you [Khan] failed to stay faithful to your country,” she said.

The PML-N vice president said that Khan played with the country, and targeted the martyrs of the Pakistan Army under the guise of a cypher, which was not even real.

“You conspired against the martyrs, destroyed the country for your own interests and spoiled diplomatic relations,” she said while taking a jibe at the former prime minister.

She added that the PTI chief’s Bani Gala residence should be raided to recover the cypher.

“He will be somebody’s ladla, but he is not our [coalition government’s] ladla,” she said, accusing him of creating a rift in the important institution of Pakistan.

Maryam went on to say that she was surprised at herself and the system of this country, assuring the public that the coalition government will show his true face to the people.

Replying to a question, Sanaullah said that he hopes that the Parliament registers a case against him under Article 6.

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Arrest warrants of PTI chief Imran Khan issued

Tanzeel Ahmed

October 1, 2022

ISLAMABAD: Arrest warrants of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan have been issued for his remarks against the Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry in a public rally in Islamabad.

The arrest warrants dated September 30 were issued by Senior Civil Judge Rana Mujahid Rahim.

The arrest warrants dated September 30 came to light hours after Imran submitted to the Islamabad High Court an affidavit in a contempt case against him, saying he had realised he “might have crossed a line” in his criticism of Chaudhry and was willing to apologise to her “if she got an impression” that he had crossed a line.

The PTI chairman was booked for threatening a judge and two top police officials in a public meeting held at the F-9 Park.

Meanwhile, Pakistan s media regulatory authority has banned the broadcasting of live speeches of PTI chief Imran Khan for threatening an Islamabad police official and a female magistrate during an address in Islamabad.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said that Imran’s recorded speech would only be permitted to be aired after an effective delay mechanism to ensure effective monitoring and editorial control.

The court had sought the affidavit during a hearing on September 22, when Imran had offered to tender an apology to Chaudhry, who had earlier caught flak from the PTI supremo after approving his close aide Shahbaz Gill’s physical remand in a sedition case. Imran’s offer to apologise had seen him escape the indictment.

At the August 20 rally, Imran had warned the judge of dire consequence, as well as the judiciary for what he had called its “biased” attitude towards his party.

In his affidavit submitted to court today, Imran said he had “realised during these (contempt) proceedings before the honourable court that he might have crossed a red line while making [a] public speech on August 20, 2022”. However, he added, he never intended to threaten Judge Chaudhry and “there was no intention behind the statement to take any action other than legal action”.

He said he wanted to assure the IHC that he was willing to explain and clarify before Judge Chaudhry that“ neither he nor his party seeks/sought any action“ against her and he was willing apologise to her “if she got an impression that the deponent (Imran) had crossed a line”.

The PTI chief assured the court that in future he would not do anything that would hurt the dignity of any court and the judiciary, especially the lower judiciary.

He also expressed his willingness to take any further steps that the IHC “deems necessary and appropriate for the satisfaction of the honourable court that he never intended to interfere in the process of the court or impugn the dignity or independence of the judiciary”.

Imran assured the court that he would always stand by his statement in the affidavit in letter and spirit.

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