Islamabad High Court Seeks Responses on Petition to Regulate Social Media Use by Children
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has issued notices to the Ministry of Information Technology, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Law, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Information, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on a petition seeking regulation of social media use by children under the age of 16.
The court has directed the respondents to submit paragraph-wise replies within 15 days.
Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar issued the written order while hearing a petition filed by citizen Waqas Nasir.
The petitioner has requested the court to direct the federal government to consider comprehensive legislation for regulating children’s use of social media and to protect them from alleged harms resulting from unsafe access to online platforms.
According to the order, the petitioner argued that although existing laws address certain cybercrimes, Pakistan lacks a comprehensive and coordinated legal or regulatory framework for children’s online safety. Such a framework, the petition stated, should cover age verification, parental controls, data protection and digital literacy.
The court noted that due to regulatory gaps, children are exposed to cyberbullying, online exploitation, harmful content, privacy violations and other digital risks. It observed that the federal government and relevant institutions are responsible for taking appropriate measures to protect children’s safety and welfare.
The petitioner has also sought the formulation of a national policy providing age-appropriate safeguards for children. The proposed policy includes parental monitoring tools, complaint registration and redress mechanisms, protection of personal information, public awareness campaigns and digital literacy programmes.
The Islamabad High Court will hear the case further on September 29.
