LAHORE: A petition has been filed in the Federal Constitutional Court seeking restrictions on social-media use by children under the age of 16, along with stronger controls on content accessible to minors through television and digital platforms.
Lawyers Sheraz Zaka and Moin Akhtar filed the petition at the court’s Lahore registry. They argue that children are being exposed to cyberbullying, addictive platform designs, sexualised material and other inappropriate content, while Pakistan currently has no law requiring social-media companies to verify that users meet a minimum age threshold.
The petition asks the court to direct the federal government to amend the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 to introduce age-verification requirements and restrict social-media access for users under 16. It also seeks stricter enforcement by Pemra of television-content standards during hours when children are likely to be watching.
The petitioners cited measures introduced in countries including Australia, Italy and Brazil and called for cooperation between Pakistani authorities and technology platforms on parental controls. A similar resolution calling for restrictions on social-media accounts for children under 16 was approved by the Punjab Assembly earlier this month.