Türkiye introduces new social media regulations to protect young users

Türkiye introduced new social media regulations Wednesday aimed at strengthening protections for children and young users online, joining countries such as Australia, France, Greece and Portugal in adopting similar measures.

The regulations focus on enhancing child safety, increasing platform accountability and ensuring faster intervention against harmful content in the digital space.

Under the new rules, minors under age 15 will not be able to register on social media platforms, with companies required to implement effective age verification systems.

Social media providers will also be required to offer differentiated, age-appropriate services specifically designed for users 15 and over.

The regulations also introduce stronger parental control mechanisms. Platforms will be required to provide tools that allow parents to manage account settings, approve or restrict in-app purchases and monitor or limit screen time.

Additionally, social media companies will be obliged to take steps to prevent deceptive or harmful advertising and reduce online risks, particularly for minors.

The new rules also mandate faster responses to harmful content. In urgent cases related to national security or public safety, large platforms must comply with content removal or access-blocking orders within one hour.

The stricter obligations will apply in particular to social media platforms with more than 10 million daily users in Türkiye.

To prevent repeated violations, platforms will also be required to use artificial intelligence and automated systems to ensure that previously removed illegal content is not re-uploaded.

Companies will also face stricter compliance obligations, including providing requested data to authorities without delay and within a maximum of 15 days, as well as doing risk assessments on the societal impact of their services.

The regulations introduce a step-by-step enforcement mechanism for non-compliance.

If obligations are not fulfilled within 30 days following notification of an administrative fine, new advertising on the platform will be banned.

If violations persist, authorities may seek court approval to reduce the platform’s bandwidth by 50% and ultimately by up to 90%, significantly limiting access in Türkiye.

Under the law, gaming platforms will not be allowed to offer games that are not properly age-rated, or only if they are classified under the highest age rating, available only to adult users.

Foreign-based gaming platforms with more than 100,000 daily users from Türkiye will be required to appoint a legal representative in the country and comply with requests from Turkish authorities within set deadlines.

Gaming platforms will also be required to provide clear and accessible parental control tools similar to those mandated for social media platforms.

The regulation aims to create a safer, more transparent and accountable digital environment, with a particular emphasis on protecting minors and maintaining public order.

The regulations will enter into force six months after their publication in the Official Gazette.