LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday directed the federal government to forward a prepared summary to the federal cabinet regarding the unregulated import and sale of camera and microphone-equipped smart glasses.

Earlier, Chief Justice Aalia Neelum resumed hearing of a public interest petition, with attendance of representatives from different departments, including customs.

A citizen, Husnainul Abideen, had filed the petition through Advocate Shahram Saqi.

“Have all the departments fallen asleep? In the coming days, no one’s privacy will remain,” the chief justice remarked. She also asked whether the government was aware that smart glasses were being sold in shops and what steps it had taken to address the issue.

A deputy attorney general informed the court that the ministry of commerce would prepare regulations to ban the import of Meta glasses and place them before the federal cabinet for approval. He said a summary had been prepared for the purpose.

The chief justice asked whether there had been no policy in place earlier.

The law officer conceded that no such policy existed previously, which was why the matter had not been taken up.

Chief Justice Neelum observed that anyone’s video could be recorded in the future. She adjourned further hearing till Nov 12 and directed the government to forward the prepared summary to the federal cabinet.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Chief Justice Aalia Neelum on Thursday sought assistance from the attorney general for Pakistan and the advocate general of Punjab on a petition seeking a ban on social media use by children under the age of 16.

The chief justice was hearing a public interest petition filed by Allayah Saleem through Advocate Shiza Qureshi.

The chief justice had previously summoned the attorney general and the advocate general. However, they failed to appear before the court citing engagement before the apex court. The chief justice expressed concern over the absence of the law officers and directed them to appear on Nov 12.

The petition stated that children under 16 were using social media in Pakistan without any effective mechanism to restrict their access. It argued that the use of social media was having negative effects on children. It pointed out that Australia, Brazil and Italy had imposed restrictions on social media use by children under 16. It asked the court to order a ban on social media use by children below the age of 16 in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2026