Govt Admits No Assessment Conducted on Social Media’s Harmful Effects on Children in Pakistan

The government has revealed that no comprehensive study has been conducted over the past three years to evaluate the social media’s harmful effects on children in Pakistan, including risks to mental health and exposure to online abuse.

Responding to a query from Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) informed the Senate that no detailed impact assessment has been carried out on the adverse effects of social media on minors.

Govt Admits No Assessment Conducted on Social Media’s Harmful Effects on Children in Pakistan

While social media platforms in Pakistan are governed under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, administrative oversight of the law has been transferred to the Ministry of Interior. Despite the absence of formal assessment, the government emphasized regulatory and awareness measures taken by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) under Section 37 of PECA.

According to the official response:

• PTA has blocked or removed over one million URLs containing immoral and indecent content.
• 5,175 websites hosting Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), identified via the NCCIA Interpol desk, have been blocked.
• PTA has published a list of parental control software tools on its website and social media platforms for public guidance.

In the area of Child Online Protection (COP), PTA has collaborated with stakeholders including UNICEF Pakistan, TikTok, GSMA, and the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Training sessions have been conducted for parents, teachers, and students across 100 government schools, benefiting over 12,500 participants.

Additionally, a guidebook titled “Safeguarding Your Child in the Digital Age” was launched in February 2024 in partnership with UNICEF, Telenor, and the National Commission on the Rights of the Child (NCRC). A toll-free child protection helpline (1121) has also been established nationwide for reporting cases of child abuse.

Under a nationwide “Train the Trainer” programme, 15 master trainers have been trained to prepare 210 facilitators to expand outreach on digital safety and online risk management.

The government clarified that age verification systems, account registration controls, and parental control features are implemented by social media platforms according to their own policies and global standards, and are not directly managed by PTA.

This admission highlights a significant gap in Pakistan’s policy framework regarding the monitoring and evaluation of social media’s impact on children, despite ongoing regulatory and awareness initiatives.