In its detailed response submitted to the court on Thursday, the PTA said it could not establish an age-verification system for children by exceeding the powers granted to it under existing laws.
The authority said a new legal and policy framework is needed to protect children from online risks.
The PTA submitted its response in a case concerning a proposed ban on social media use by children under 16. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Interior and National Commission on the Rights of Child also submitted their responses to the court.
According to the PTA, its authority to block illegal online content is limited and interim in nature. It said the Social Media Protection Authority is being established under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) Amendment 2025 and will soon deal with complaints involving illegal content and forgery.
The PTA further said that action against cybercrimes and the spread of obscene content now falls under the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).
The authority told the court that it has so far reviewed more than 1.789 million illegal online links and URLs and blocked more than 1.577 million of them. It said its overall blocking rate stood at 88.20 percent.
The PTA said 88.68 percent of reported links on TikTok, 87.34 percent on YouTube and 78.57 percent on Facebook were blocked. On Instagram, 79.52 percent of links were blocked, while action was taken against 48.42 percent of links on X, formerly known as Twitter.
More than 1.066 million websites and links containing obscene content were blocked, along with more than 203,000 links involving content against Islam and more than 46,000 links relating to national security, according to the response.
The PTA said social media companies are neither registered in Pakistan nor bound by local laws, creating technical and regulatory limitations.
It also said HTTPS encryption makes it impossible to block individual pieces of content, meaning that entire websites may have to be blocked. The authority added that social media companies had not responded to its requests to ensure local compliance and appoint grievance officers.
The PTA said it was also working with UNICEF, TikTok, Meta and the GSM Association on awareness campaigns aimed at protecting children online.
It added that toll-free helpline 1121 has been activated for reporting online violence and exploitation of children, while Instagram has launched its Teen Accounts safety feature for Pakistani users.
The PTA asked the Islamabad High Court to dismiss the relief sought against it to the extent that it falls outside the authority's legal jurisdiction.
