The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has informed the Islamabad High Court that it does not have the legal authority to ban children under 16 from using social media or make age verification mandatory across online platforms.
In its report submitted in Writ Petition No. 4163 of 2026, the regulator said Section 37 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, allows it to block or remove unlawful online content on specified legal grounds. However, the provision does not empower PTA to set a minimum age for social media users or introduce a universal age-verification system.
The PTA said implementing mandatory age verification would require a separate legal and regulatory framework. Such a framework would need to address verification methods, responsibility for checking users’ ages, handling of identity information, privacy safeguards, platform compliance, audits and penalties.
The regulator maintained that it cannot introduce these requirements through an administrative order without specific legal authority. It also noted that age restrictions adopted in countries such as Australia and European Union states are based on their respective laws and cannot automatically grant similar powers to PTA in Pakistan.
PTA said it can continue processing complaints, reviewing reported content, coordinating with social media platforms and taking blocking action where permitted under existing law. However, setting 16 as the minimum social media age, creating a universal age database or making age verification mandatory would require explicit legislation.
