A petition has been filed before the Federal Constitutional Court seeking directions aimed at shielding children under 16 from unrestricted social media access and inappropriate content appearing on television and other platforms.
The petition was filed at the Lahore registry by two lawyers, Sheraz Zaka and Moin Akhtar, with the former identifying himself as an activist working on related issues and the latter describing himself as the father of a minor child. In the petition, the two argue that children in Pakistan are being exposed to a range of harms through unregulated platform use, including cyberbullying, platform designs built to keep users engaged for longer than intended, content unsuitable for young audiences, and portrayals that glamorize alcohol consumption, all of which they contend are damaging to the mental and moral development of children growing up in the country. The petitioners point out that no existing Pakistani law currently requires age verification for social media access, noting specifically that the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act of 2016 contains no provision restricting use by anyone under the age of 16. To support their argument that such regulation is achievable, they cite countries including Australia, Italy and Brazil, each of which has already introduced restrictions on social media access for users under 16, framing these examples as evidence that similar rules could realistically be implemented in Pakistan as well.
The petition also raises concerns about regulatory enforcement more broadly, alleging that Pemra has failed to apply its own code of conduct consistently, resulting in dramas and advertisements containing content unsuitable for children being broadcast during hours when young viewers are likely to be watching television. Beyond the immediate question of content and platform access, the petitioners tie their arguments to Pakistan’s wider education challenges, referencing figures suggesting that around 25 million children in the country are currently out of school, a number they describe as the highest reported anywhere globally. Drawing these threads together, the petitioners argue that the government’s failure to act on either front amounts to a violation of several constitutional protections, specifically Articles 9, 14, 25, 25-A and 35, which relate to the right to life, dignity, equality, education and the protection of the family unit. They further invoke the Convention on the Rights of the Child, along with an earlier Lahore High Court ruling that had directed the state to legislate on related human rights and social issues.
Among the specific remedies being sought, the petitioners are asking the court to direct the federal government to amend the 2016 electronics crimes law so that it includes a mechanism for verifying user age before granting access to social media platforms for anyone under 16. They are also seeking an order directing Pemra to enforce its content standards more strictly during hours when children are likely to be watching television, along with a broader direction for the government to coordinate with social media platforms on parental control tools and to take action addressing the scale of school dropout and out-of-school children across the country. The petitioners describe this as the first case of its kind to be filed in Pakistan specifically targeting this combination of issues. The respondents named in the petition include the federal government acting through the ministry of law and justice, the ministry of information technology, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency, Pemra, and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.
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