Pakistan regulator says it lacks authority to restrict social media — Dawn
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) told the Islamabad High Court that it does not have statutory authority to introduce mandatory age verification or restrict access to social media for children under 16. Dawn reports.
The regulator submitted a detailed report in response to a petition filed in August by Waqas Nasir through his lawyers. In it, the petitioner asked the court to direct the federal government to develop legislation and comprehensive rules on social media use by children under 16. He cited the risks of cyberbullying, online harassment, and minors’ access to inappropriate or harmful content.
Regulatory change
The PTA acknowledged the importance of protecting children online but said that setting a single minimum age for creating social media accounts falls outside its current mandate. The agency stressed that it cannot introduce a new age-verification regime through an administrative decision without relevant legislative provisions.
The report also mentions the 2025 amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act. According to the PTA, the new Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority (SMPRA) is to replace it in the area of social media regulation. Until SMPRA is officially notified of the start of its operations, the PTA continues to perform functions under the original 2016 version of the law, but considers its powers to remove and block content to be transitional.
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Technical limitations
The PTA explained that major platforms, including Facebook, Google, and X, operate as OTT services and do not hold the regulator’s licenses or registration in Pakistan. They consider requests to such companies under their own community rules, which may not comply with Pakistani legislation.
The regulator identified HTTPS encryption as a separate obstacle. It said that this makes it practically impossible to block individual URLs on a platform without blocking the entire website, which would also cut off access to lawful content. The PTA said it had processed more than 17 million URLs and blocked approximately 88.2% of them.
Last month, a resolution was submitted to the Punjab Assembly calling for a nationwide ban on social media accounts for children under 16 without parental consent. Its author, Sarah Ahmad, proposed recommending that the federal government prepare comprehensive legislation to regulate children’s access to platforms and strengthen online safety.
