New Social Media Age Restrictions Take Effect in Turkey

“For families in Turkey, this means that children under 15 will no longer be able to open social media accounts, while parents of teenagers aged 15–17 will have greater control over their children’s online activity, privacy and spending.”

New regulations governing social media use in Turkey came into force on 1 November. Users opening new accounts will be required to verify their age through the e-Government system (e-Devlet), while existing accounts have until 31 March 2027 to complete the verification process. Under the new rules, accounts belonging to users aged 15–17 must be private, and livestreaming will be prohibited for this age group.

The new regulations introduce a minimum age of 15 for social media accounts. Platforms will no longer be allowed to accept account applications from children under 15, while additional restrictions will apply to users aged between 15 and 17.

Prepared by the Presidential Cyber Security Directorate, the regulation covers both domestic and international social media platforms accessible from Turkey.

Published in the Official Gazette on 10 October under the title Regulation on the Provision of Age-Segregated Services for Children and Age Verification by Social Network Providers, the new rules became effective on 1 November.

Children Under 15 Will Not Be Allowed to Open Accounts

Under the new rules, social media providers must reject account applications from children who have not yet reached the age of 15.

To enforce the age limit, platforms will be required to verify users’ ages. This will be done through a digital age-verification token generated via Turkey’s e-Government Gateway (e-Devlet).

Age Verification Through e-Devlet

Under Article 7 of the regulation, users will complete the age-verification process through e-Devlet.

At the user’s request, the Cyber Security Directorate will generate an age-verification token, which will then be submitted to the social media platform where the user wishes to open an account.

Platforms will check the validity of the token to establish which age group the user belongs to.

Rather than providing a user’s date of birth or full identity details, the token will contain only information confirming whether the person has reached the age of 15 and whether they have turned 18.

Social media companies will not be permitted to use this information for purposes other than age verification.

Existing Accounts Must Be Verified by 31 March 2027

The regulation will also apply to accounts created before the new rules came into force.

Social media platforms will have until 31 March 2027 to complete age verification for existing accounts that have not yet been verified.

If the verification process establishes that a user is under 15, the relevant account will be closed after the user has been notified.

Users will have the right to challenge age-verification results or account closures free of charge. Any content and personal data held in the account must remain intact until the appeal process has been completed.

Private Accounts Mandatory for Users Aged 15–17

The new regulation also introduces several restrictions for users who have turned 15 but are under 18.

• Private accounts: Accounts belonging to users in this age group must remain private. Platforms will not be allowed to offer an option to make them publicly accessible.
• Direct messages: Young users will only be able to receive private messages from accounts they follow.
• Followers and following lists: Other users will not be allowed to view the lists of accounts followed by, or following, these young users.
• Livestreaming: Users aged 15–17 will not be permitted to start livestreams.
• Personal data and advertising: Children’s personal data cannot be processed to create user profiles or display personalised commercial advertisements.

Parental Controls and Spending Limits

Social media platforms will also be required to provide tools enabling parents to monitor and manage their children’s use of social media.

Parents will be able to:

• Monitor how much time their children spend on social media platforms.
• Set daily usage limits.
• Require parental approval for purchases, rentals and paid subscriptions made through social media platforms.
• Establish spending limits for such transactions.

The measures are intended to give parents greater control over their children’s social media activity and online spending.