A petition filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) is seeking legislation to prevent children and teenagers under 16 from creating or operating social media accounts in Pakistan.
The petition was filed on behalf of Waqas Nasir by lawyers Jalal Haider, Yahya Farid Khwaja and Muhammad Zeshan Ali. It argues that children face risks including cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, online harassment and exposure to harmful content.
The petition does not mean that a social media ban for under-16s has been approved in Pakistan. It seeks federal legislation, with the Federation of Pakistan made a party to the case. Any nationwide restriction would require the relevant legislative and legal process before it could be enforced.
PTA and NADRA Proposed for Age Verification
One of the main proposals is to establish a technology-based age-verification system for social media users.
Lawyer Jalal Haider has suggested that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) jointly develop a mechanism to determine whether a user is under 16.
The proposed system would prevent under-16 users from creating or operating social media accounts. The petition gives greater importance to age verification than relying only on parental controls and seeks obligations for social media platforms to comply with Pakistani law.
Petition Seeks Penalties for Parents
The petition also proposes penalties for parents who allow children under 16 to bypass the proposed restrictions.
It further seeks greater responsibility from social media platforms to ensure that their services comply with any minimum-age requirement introduced through Pakistani law.
According to Haider, the petition invokes the legal principle of parens patriae, under which the state can act to protect minors.
The petition argues that stronger safeguards are needed because children may be particularly vulnerable to online abuse, exploitation and harmful material.
TikTok Use Among Under-16s Raised as Concern
Haider also claimed that a large proportion of TikTok users in Pakistan are under 16. However, the specific claim was not supported by data in the information available on the petition and should therefore be treated as an allegation rather than a verified statistic.
The petition comes as social media use continues to expand in Pakistan. DataReportal estimated that Pakistan had 79.9 million active social media user identities in October 2025, equivalent to 31.2% of the country’s population. DataReportal notes that these figures do not necessarily represent unique individuals.
Australia’s Under-16 Rules Cited as a Model
The petition refers to Australia’s Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 as a precedent for introducing a minimum age for social media accounts.
Australia’s rules took effect on December 10, 2025, requiring age-restricted social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from creating or keeping accounts.
The Australian system places the main compliance responsibility on platforms rather than children. Under the rules, platforms can face penalties of up to A$54.6 million for failing to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16 accounts.
Platforms currently covered by Australia’s age restrictions include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, X, Reddit, Threads, Twitch and Kick, according to Australia’s eSafety Commissioner.
What the IHC Petition Seeks
The petition is seeking a nationwide legal framework that would:
- Prevent people under 16 from creating or operating social media accounts.
- Establish an age-verification system involving PTA and NADRA.
- Require social media platforms to comply with Pakistani law.
- Introduce penalties for parents who allow minors to bypass the proposed restrictions.
- Strengthen state protections for children against online risks.
No Social Media Ban Has Been Ordered
The IHC petition is currently a request for legal and legislative action, not an existing nationwide ban.
If the proposal moves forward, Pakistan would need to establish the legal framework, define how age verification would work and determine how platforms, parents and users would be treated under the proposed rules.
For now, there is no confirmed nationwide social media ban for under-16s in Pakistan as a result of this petition.
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