PTA says it lacks authority to impose mandatory age verification or restrict social media access for minors

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) told the Islamabad High Court on Thursday that it does not have the legal authority to enforce mandatory age verification or control social media access for children under 16 years old. This claim came in response to a writ petition filed by Waqas Nasir in August, requesting the federal government to create legislation and regulations to manage children's use of social media.

The IHC previously asked for comments from various ministries and agencies, including the PTA, on the petition.

In its report, the PTA acknowledged the significance of safeguarding children from online dangers but stressed that the petitioner's request to impose a universal minimum age of 16 for social media accounts exceeded the PTA's statutory powers. It stressed that as a regulatory body, the PTA could only impose powers granted by law and could not establish a new age-verification system through administrative actions.

The PTA also pointed out the changing regulatory landscape with the introduction of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act 2025. This act established a new entity, the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority (SMPRA), which would take over the regulation of social media platforms from the PTA. Until SMPRA is officially notified, the PTA has been operating within the existing Peca 2016 framework on an 'efforts' basis, but its authority to remove or block content on social media platforms is now "temporary."

The PTA highlighted the challenges in regulating social media content, including the use of Over The Top (OTT) services like Facebook, Google, and X, which do not need to be licensed or registered in Pakistan. Moreover, the PTA explained that most social media platforms use HTTPS encryption, making it difficult to block specific content without disrupting legitimate access to the entire site.

The report also noted the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a new challenge in content regulation. Despite these limitations, the PTA defended its efforts, noting that it had blocked approximately 88.20% of 17 million URLs. The report also mentioned ongoing awareness campaigns with international organizations like UNICEF, TikTok, Meta, and the GSM Association, focusing on digital literacy and child online protection.

The PTA asked the court to dismiss the petition, arguing that any failure should be evaluated based on specific statutory duties, which do not currently include the power to set a minimum age of 16 for social media users.