PTA tells IHC it cannot enforce social media age limits for minors

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that it lacks the legal authority to enforce mandatory age verification or restrict social media access for minors under 16. This was in response to a petition seeking to restrict social media use for children. The petition, submitted by Waqas Nasir in August, argued that children are exposed to harmful online effects like cyberbullying and inappropriate content, necessitating state intervention.

The IHC had sought responses from various ministries and authorities, including the PTA, on the petition.

In its report, the PTA cited technical limitations and changes in the legal framework under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act 2025. The PTA acknowledged the importance of protecting children from online harms but argued that the petitioner's request for a universal minimum age for social media accounts exceeded its statutory mandate. It emphasized that as a regulatory body, it could only exercise powers granted by law and could not create a new age-verification regime through administrative action alone.

The PTA noted that a new entity, the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority (SMPRA), would replace the PTA in regulating social media platforms following the promulgation of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2025. Until SMPRA's official notification, the PTA continued to operate under the original Peca 2016 framework but faced difficulties in regulating content due to major platforms like Facebook, Google, and X (formerly Twitter) being "Over the Top" (OTT) services operating outside Pakistan's legal code.

The PTA highlighted two main approaches for regulators: direct engagement with operators or technical action. However, it pointed out that social media operators' Community Guidelines, which may not align with Pakistani laws, often prevented such actions. The technical challenge was highlighted by the use of HTTPS encryption by platforms, making it nearly impossible to block specific URLs without affecting the entire website, thereby disrupting access to legitimate content.

The PTA also addressed the challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the rapidly evolving digital environment. Despite these limitations, the PTA defended its record by presenting a "URL Blocking Summary" showing it had processed over 17 million URLs, blocking approximately 88.20% of them. The PTA also detailed extensive awareness campaigns, including collaborations with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), TikTok, Meta, and the GSM Association, focused on digital literacy and child online protection.