PESHAWAR – A petition seeking to ban social media use by children under 16 in Pakistan has been filed in the Federal Constitutional Court, calling for mandatory age verification and stronger safeguards against harmful online content.
The petition asks the federal government to introduce legislation that would restrict social media access for children under 16. It also seeks an effective age verification system across social media platforms.
The petitioners said children face several risks online, including cyber harassment, social media addiction and exposure to sexually explicit and other harmful content. They called for immediate measures to protect children from these risks.
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According to the petition, existing Pakistani laws do not specifically ban social media use by children under 16. The petitioners also argued that Pakistan does not have an effective mandatory age verification system for social media users.
Supreme Court lawyer Shiraz Zaka and Islamabad High Court lawyer Chaudhry Moeen Akhtar filed the petition. They named the federal government, the Ministry of Information Technology, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency, PEMRA and the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority as respondents.
The petitioners also referred to measures taken by several countries, including Australia, Italy and Brazil, to restrict social media access for children.
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They argued that these international examples show that Pakistan can also introduce safeguards for younger users. The petition therefore asks the court to direct the government to take legal and regulatory steps to protect children online.
The proposed ban on social media use by children under 16 would also require platforms to verify users’ ages. The petitioners say such a system could help prevent children from accessing harmful content and reduce their exposure to online risks.
The case comes amid growing international debate over children’s access to social media and the responsibility of governments and technology platforms to protect young users.
