Web Desk: Senate members Sarmad Ali and Masroor Ahmed presented a bill in the Senate of Pakistan regarding the social media age limit on July 21, 2025, called the Social Media (Age Restriction on Users) Bill 2025, which would prohibit all people under the age of 16 from having social media accounts.
The social media age limit regulation holds that it requires social media platforms to implement age checks, with a penalty of up to Rs 50,000 to Rs 5million, and those who assist/abet minors in the process to create accounts may be punished with up to six months in prison.
PTA would lawfully have the power to cancel already registered underage accounts and come up with implementation rules.
This initiative puts the entire burden of responsibility of barring access by minors on social media firms. The non-compliant platforms will face fines of up to Rs5 million. Those who enable minors to make accounts are liable to criminal offences and imprisonment.
The role of PTA goes so far as to enforce account deletions and give procedure outlines.
The social media age limit bill aims to reduce the risks of online exploitation, cyber-harassment, exposure to inappropriate content, and digital abuse. If the new social media age limit bill passes, it will be accompanied by an awareness campaign to be conducted among parents and children, as well.
PTA will manage the removal of the available minor accounts and prepare some enforceable guidelines. Places will have to have systems of checking age before registration. There are no defined legal procedures, and in that case, the final authority in setting standards and clarification lies with the PTA.
Currently, the bill was raised in the Senate and is awaiting detailed debate and endorsement. On being agreed upon by both houses of the parliament and signed by the President, it would be implemented as an enforceable law of the land in Pakistan. This would be followed by the drafting of PTA rules to operationalise the regime of social media age limit.
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