IHC seeks govt's response on plea seeking social media curbs for children under 16

• Petitioner argues child protection is the state’s legal duty.
• IHC asks Pemra whether any law regulates children’s social media use.
• Lawyer says no law currently regulates children’s social media use.
  

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday sought responses from the federal government and regulatory authorities to a petition seeking to regulate social media use by children under 16.

IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar resumed hearing on the plea and issued notices to the Ministry of Information Technology, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Law, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra).

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel argued that protecting the best interests of children was the state’s constitutional and legal responsibility.

He told the court that several countries were introducing age restrictions and safety measures for children’s use of social media.

“Different countries are making children’s use of social media subject to age limits and safety measures,” the counsel said.

The court then asked Pemra whether any law currently regulated children’s use of social media. “Is there any law in Pemra regarding this? Has any such law been made so far?” the court asked.

In response, the counsel said no such legislation had yet been enacted and that Pemra could only act when a complaint was lodged.

Subsequently, the court issued notices to the relevant ministries, regulatory bodies and directed the law officer to ensure compliance with the notices.

The plea

The petition, filed by a citizen through advocates Muhammad Jalal Haider and Yahya Fareed Khawaja, seeks to establish an effective age-verification mechanism for social media accounts of children under 16 and a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework to protect children from the harmful effects of social media, cyberbullying, online harassment and harmful content.

The petition cited legislation and regulatory measures adopted or proposed in several countries as comparative examples, including Australia’s restrictions concerning social media accounts of children under 16, France’s requirement of parental consent for children under 15, the UK’s Online Safety Act 2023, New Zealand’s proposed legislation concerning social media use by children under 16 and Spain’s proposed restrictions on social media use by children under 16.

It submitted that such measures reflected an emerging international trend towards strengthening the digital protection of children, including age verification, parental controls and safeguards against harmful content.

The petitioner also relied on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and General Comment No 25, arguing that protection of the best interests of children was a constitutional and legal responsibility of the state.

The petition sought a comprehensive policy for safeguarding children’s digital rights, privacy and mental and physical well-being.

The petitioner has also sought the establishment of a dedicated social media protection and regulatory mechanism for children and directions to the federal government to enact appropriate legislation regulating social media use by children under 16.

With additional input from APP