PTA Tells IHC No Law Bans Social Media for Under-16s

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has told the Islamabad High Court that there is currently no law in Pakistan prohibiting children under the age of 16 from using social media. The authority submitted its response in a petition seeking restrictions on social media use by children under 16 and an effective age-verification mechanism, filed through advocates Muhammad Jalal Haider and Yahya Fareed Khawaja.

PTA Says New Legal Framework Needed

The PTA said it could not establish an age-verification system without exceeding its powers under existing law, and called for a new legal and policy framework to protect children online. It said its powers to block illegal content are limited and interim, that social media companies aren't registered in Pakistan and therefore aren't directly bound by local laws, and that HTTPS encryption makes blocking individual content difficult — sometimes requiring an entire website to be blocked instead.

A New Regulatory Body Is Coming

The PTA said a Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority is being established under 2025 amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), expected to handle complaints involving illegal content and forgery, while cybercrime enforcement now falls under the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).

The Numbers Behind Current Enforcement

The PTA said it has reviewed more than 1.789 million illegal links, blocking over 1.577 million — an 88.20% overall rate. By platform: TikTok (88.68%), YouTube (87.34%), Instagram (79.52%), Facebook (78.57%), and X (48.42%). Over 1.066 million links related to obscene content were blocked, along with more than 203,000 anti-Islamic content links and over 46,000 national security-related links.

Industry Cooperation Still Lacking in Some Areas

The PTA said social media companies have not responded to requests concerning local compliance and grievance officer appointments, though it is working with UNICEF, TikTok, Meta, and GSMA on child safety awareness campaigns. A toll-free helpline (1121) has been activated for reporting online abuse and exploitation of children, and Instagram has introduced "Teen Accounts" for Pakistani users.

Wider Context

The Punjab Assembly separately passed a resolution in September calling for restrictions on social media accounts for children under 16, subject to parental consent and reliable age verification. The Ministry of Information, Ministry of Interior, and National Commission on the Rights of the Child have also submitted responses in the case.