The Punjab social media ban for children debate has reached a new milestone after the Punjab Assembly unanimously passed a resolution calling for a legal ban on social media accounts for children under the age of 16. The resolution, presented by government MPA Sarah Ahmed, calls on the federal government to introduce legislation restricting social media access for children below that age threshold.
Why Lawmakers Are Pushing the Punjab Social Media Ban for Children
The resolution states that the state is responsible for protecting children’s physical, mental, psychological and moral development. It further warns that excessive social media use is exposing children to a range of online risks, including cyberbullying, sexual exploitation and inappropriate content. Lawmakers also flagged that children are increasingly facing mental stress and other serious problems linked directly to social media use.
This concern mirrors a growing global conversation among policymakers, parents and child psychologists about how unrestricted access to social media platforms during formative years can affect a child’s emotional development, self-esteem and exposure to predatory behavior online.
Call for Age Verification Systems
As part of the resolution, the Punjab Assembly has recommended that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) establish an effective age-verification system for social media platforms. The proposed system would be aimed specifically at preventing children under 16 from creating or maintaining social media accounts in the first place, rather than relying on after-the-fact content moderation.
The resolution also called on social media companies themselves to take greater responsibility for harmful content appearing on their platforms. It recommended that these platforms act immediately to prevent such content from reaching children and to provide a safer overall digital environment for younger users.
International Precedents Cited
Lawmakers pointed to measures already taken by other countries to regulate children’s access to social media, citing Australia, France, China and the United States as examples of nations that have introduced laws concerning social media use by underage children. Australia in particular has drawn international attention for its strict social media age restrictions for minors, which have been closely watched by other governments considering similar measures.
The Punjab Assembly argued that Pakistan also needs comparable legislation to protect children online and ensure a safer digital future for them, in line with these international developments.
Digital Awareness Campaigns Proposed
Beyond legislation and age verification, the resolution also called for federal and provincial institutions to launch coordinated digital awareness campaigns. These campaigns would aim to educate parents, teachers and children themselves about safe internet use and the risks associated with unsupervised social media access.
The assembly stressed that federal and provincial institutions need to work together on a coordinated system for protecting children online, and reiterated its call for effective legislation to strengthen the overall legal framework governing children’s online safety in Pakistan. Whether the federal government moves swiftly to draft corresponding legislation remains to be seen, but the unanimous passage of the resolution signals strong political will at the provincial level.
For background on global approaches to children’s online safety, see the UNICEF Global Insight report on child online safety. For more on Pakistan’s tech policy landscape, visit our technology news section.
