The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued notices to the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority in the petition seeking a social media ban for children under 16, ProPakistani reported on October 13. The notices followed an application to make both bodies parties to the case.
The applicant has asked the court to examine whether NADRA could set up a secure and effective age-verification system. The regulator’s inclusion is meant to cover platform accountability, personal data protection and complaint redressal, according to the report. The petition also asks for parental supervision measures and cites cyberbullying, harassment, sexual exploitation, harmful content and digital addiction as risks.
No restriction is in force. The court has not ordered an under-16 ban, so nothing changes for families or platforms for now.
The case dates from August
The petition was filed under Article 199 of the Constitution by Waqas Nasir, through lawyers Muhammad Jalal Haider and Yahya Farid Khwaja. On August 31, IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfaraz Dogar issued notices to ministries and regulators including the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and PEMRA, and gave them 15 days to reply. The court was told that no specific law regulates children’s access to social media.
The PTA’s reply, reported by ARY News, said it cannot go beyond its legal mandate to set up an age-verification mechanism. It added that no law bans children from social media, and that the platforms are not registered in Pakistan or bound by local law. It said blocking individual content is not possible because of HTTPS encryption. The PTA also said the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority is being established under the PECA Amendment Act, which is why the petitioners want it in the case.
Courts and lawmakers are already involved
The Lahore High Court sought replies on a similar petition in January, according to Dawn. A petition seeking an amendment to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016 reached the Federal Constitutional Court in September, and a resolution was submitted in the Punjab Assembly in July.
The scale is large. DataReportal counted about 117 million internet users and 79.9 million social media user identities in Pakistan in late 2025, though it cautions that identities are not the same as unique people.
What other countries have done
Australia has required major platforms to keep under-16s off since December 2025. Malaysia barred under-16s from opening accounts from June 2026, and Indonesia has restricted under-16s since March. The UAE has approved a ban for under-15s with a 12-month transition. France’s Constitutional Council struck down its under-15 ban in August, so age limits can face legal challenge.
