PTA Tells Court It Cannot Ban Social Media for Under-16s

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that existing laws do not empower it to enforce compulsory age verification or bar children below 16 from using social media. The regulator argued that implementing such restrictions would require legal authority beyond the powers currently granted to it.

According to media reports, the authority also highlighted technical difficulties in enforcing restrictions across major social media platforms, adding that amendments introduced through the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2025 have placed its online content regulation responsibilities in a transitional phase.

The PTA submitted a detailed report to the IHC in response to a petition calling for restrictions on social media access by underage users.

Although the regulator recognised concerns about children encountering harmful material online, it maintained that introducing a universal minimum age for social media accounts could not be achieved through administrative measures under its existing legal framework.

The authority said its status as a statutory regulator limited it to exercising powers explicitly granted by legislation, leaving it unable to independently introduce a mandatory age-verification mechanism.

The PTA has requested that the court reject the petition insofar as it seeks actions beyond the regulator’s legally defined responsibilities. It maintained that any claim of regulatory failure must be assessed against duties actually assigned to it by law, which do not currently include imposing a minimum social media age of 16.

Social Media Regulation Undergoing Changes

The PTA also drew attention to changes in Pakistan’s digital regulatory framework following the introduction of PECA 2025.

Under the revised structure, the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority (SMPRA) is expected to assume responsibility for regulating social media platforms, a function currently associated with the PTA.

Until SMPRA is formally notified, the PTA said it continues performing its functions under the original PECA 2016 framework on a best-efforts basis.

Consequently, its role in ordering online content to be blocked or removed has become transitional as regulatory responsibilities shift towards the proposed authority.

Encryption Complicates Targeted Content Restrictions

Alongside legal limitations, the PTA identified technological barriers that complicate efforts to restrict specific content published or accessed through social media platforms.

According to the report, major services such as Facebook, Google and X operate as over-the-top (OTT) platforms and are neither licensed by the PTA nor registered in Pakistan. The regulator argued that this limits its ability to enforce local codes of conduct directly against these companies.

Authorities generally have two approaches to addressing unlawful or harmful online material: requesting that platforms remove or restrict it themselves, or attempting to block access through technical interventions.

The PTA said the first approach has limitations because companies assess removal requests according to their own community standards, which may differ from the requirements of Pakistani law.

Technical restrictions pose another challenge because most major platforms rely on HTTPS encryption.

This encryption prevents intermediaries from readily identifying the specific pages or individual resources accessed within an encrypted connection. Consequently, the PTA said blocking a particular URL on an HTTPS-based platform is extremely difficult without potentially restricting access to the entire website and preventing users from reaching legitimate material as well.

The regulator added that the growing application of artificial intelligence was creating further complications for online content oversight as digital technologies continued to advance.

PTA Reports Blocking 88% of Processed URLs

Despite these legal and technological hurdles, the PTA defended its efforts to restrict access to online material deemed unlawful or harmful.

A URL-blocking report submitted to the court showed that the authority had processed more than 17 million URLs, blocking approximately 88.20% of them.

The PTA also cited public awareness campaigns and digital literacy programmes as part of its broader approach to online safety.

These initiatives included partnerships with UNICEF, TikTok, Meta and the GSMA, focusing on improving digital awareness and strengthening protections for children against online risks.

The authority reiterated that safeguarding minors in digital spaces remained an important objective. However, it maintained that establishing a universal minimum age and compulsory age-verification system would require legislation explicitly granting it the necessary regulatory powers.