The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) informed  the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on October 1 that it does not possess the legal authority to enforce mandatory age verification or restrict social media access for minors under the age of 16.

The response was submitted in a petition filed by Waqas Nasir through advocates Muhammad Jalal Haider and Yahya Farid in August, seeking legislation and a regulatory framework to regulate social media to protect minors from cyberbullying, online harassment and inappropriate content.

The PTA said its regulatory role was currently in transition following the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act 2025, which provides for the establishment of the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority (SMPRA). Until the new authority becomes operational, the PTA said it operates on a “best-efforts basis” under the existing PECA 2016 framework.

The authority also cited technical and regulatory challenges, including the global nature of platforms such as Facebook, Google and X, HTTPS encryption that limits URL-level blocking, and the rapidly evolving use of artificial intelligence. It said it had nevertheless blocked a high volume of reported content and conducted awareness campaigns with organisations including UNICEF and Meta.

The PTA requested the IHC to dismiss the petition to the extent that it seeks relief beyond its statutory mandate. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Interior and National Commission on the Rights of the Child also submitted responses to the petition.