IHC seeks responses from PTA, PEMRA and ministries over regulating children’s social media use

Petition calls for age verification and stronger safeguards to protect children under-16 from online harm

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday issued notices to several ministries and regulatory bodies on a petition seeking legislation to regulate social media use by children under the age of 16.

IHC Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar heard the constitutional petition, filed under Article 199 of the Constitution, by citizen Waqas Nasir through lawyers Muhammad Jalal Haider and Yahya Farid Khwaja.

The petition called for an effective age-verification mechanism for social media accounts operated by children under 16, along with legislation to protect them from the potential harms associated with social media use.

During the hearing, the court issued notices to the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Ministry of Human Rights, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), National Commission on the Rights of Child and National Commission for Human Rights.

Read: IHC moved for regulating social media use by kids

The petition stated that excessive and unsupervised social media use could expose children to cyberbullying, online harassment, grooming, exploitation, violent or sexually explicit material, misinformation, addictive usage patterns, privacy violations, financial scams and other harmful online activities.

The petitioner asked the court to direct the relevant authorities to establish a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework to protect children in the digital environment.

During the hearing, Advocate Haider told the court that several countries had introduced age restrictions and other safeguards to protect children online and argued that Pakistan should also introduce relevant legislation.

He cited Australia and France as examples, saying the two countries had introduced measures restricting social media access for children under 16 and 15, respectively. He added that the online safety of minors had become a matter of public concern worldwide.

Read More: Can Pakistan keep under-16s off social media?

The petition also referred to scientific research and government studies that had linked excessive social media use among minors to increased risks of anxiety, depression, cyberbullying, online sexual exploitation, self-harm, addiction, exposure to harmful content and adverse effects on cognitive and emotional development.

The counsel argued that protecting the best interests of children was a constitutional and legal responsibility of the state and urged the authorities to introduce similar safeguards in Pakistan.

Justice Dogar asked the petitioner’s counsel whether PEMRA had any law dealing with the issue. Haider replied that the authority had powers under existing law to act on complaints, but there was no specific legislation regulating social media use by children under 16.

The IHC subsequently issued notices to all respondents and directed them to submit their responses at the next hearing.

The court also directed the law officer to ensure implementation of the notices.