Plea in Federal Constitutional Court seeks social media ban for children under 16

A petition has been filed before the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) seeking restrictions on social media use by children under 16 and mandatory age verification for users.

The petitioners have also asked the court to direct authorities to take steps to protect minors from cyberbullying, social media addiction, sexualised content and other material they consider harmful.

Lawyers Sheraz Zaka and Moien Akhtar named the Federation of Pakistan, Ministry of Information Technology, National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and Social Media Protection Regulatory Authority as respondents.

The petition seeks directions for the federal government to introduce new legislation or amend the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, to prevent children below 16 from accessing social media platforms and establish an effective age-verification mechanism.

The petitioners argued that Pakistani law currently does not specifically impose an age restriction or require social media platforms to verify the age of their users.

They referred to regulations in countries including Australia, Italy and Brazil, where restrictions have been introduced for children under 16, arguing that similar measures could be adopted in Pakistan.

The plea also calls for stronger protection of children from online harms, including cyberbullying, addiction and exposure to sexualised material.