January 31, 2026
Press Release
Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), Search for Justice, Child Rights Movement (Punjab), and the Children Advocacy Network (CAN Pakistan) jointly emphasise that children’s online safety is a critical child protection issue requiring urgent, coordinated, and effective action. Children face real and growing risks in digital spaces, including online abuse, exploitation, harassment, and exposure to harmful content. These risks persist due to regulatory gaps, weak platform accountability, and inadequate government oversight of digital environments.
The rights groups cautioned that blanket bans or age-based prohibitions on children’s access to social media are a flawed and regressive response. Such measures shift responsibility away from the government and technology companies and place the burden on children and families. They undermine children’s rights to information, learning, expression, and participation, while failing to address the systemic conditions that enable online harm.
International child rights standards are clear on this issue. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, through General Comment No. 25, affirms that children’s rights apply fully in the digital environment and calls for protection alongside access, participation, and empowerment, rather than exclusion from digital spaces, particularly in contexts where regulatory and data protection safeguards remain weak.
In Pakistan’s digital ecosystem, blanket bans are also technically difficult to enforce and risk pushing children toward unregulated and unsafe online spaces, thereby reducing opportunities for guidance, safeguarding, and early intervention.
The organisations further caution that many age-based restriction proposals rely on intrusive age-verification and monitoring mechanisms that risk expanding surveillance of children. In the absence of a comprehensive data protection framework, such measures could expose children’s personal data to misuse, profiling, and long-term harm, undermining privacy and safety in the name of protection.
Protecting children online requires regulation, not exclusion. Clear child-safety obligations for digital platforms, age-appropriate design and safety standards, effective responses to online abuse and exploitation, and investment in digital literacy and parental support are essential components of a rights-based approach to child online protection.
Children are active rights-holders in the digital world. Any policy affecting their online access must be evidence-based, proportionate, and informed by children’s lived experiences. Digital and child rights organisations emphasise the need for comprehensive, child-centred digital safety frameworks that protect children while upholding their rights.
The organisations will continue to advocate for rights-based digital policies that prioritise children’s safety, platform accountability, privacy, and meaningful child participation.