Turkey Bans Social Media Accounts for Children Under 15

Turkey has barred social media platforms from providing services to children under the age of 15, according to a regulation published in the Official Gazette.

Social media companies will be required to verify users’ ages when accounts are created, using an age-verification token through Turkey’s e-government system. Applications from users found to be under 15 must be blocked, according to the new rules.

The regulation, which will take effect on Nov. 1, follows a bill passed in Turkey’s parliament in April. Age verification for existing accounts is expected to be completed by March 31, 2027 and accounts belonging to users found to be under 15 will have to be shut down.

Accounts belonging to users aged 15 to 17 will be private by default, operate with content filters, and offer no personalized advertising or livestreaming capability, according to the new regulation. Platforms will also be required to implement technical measures to prevent screenshots from being taken on these accounts.

Platforms will also be obliged to offer parental-control tools for accounts for 15 to 17 year olds, allowing parents to manage settings, limit usage time and authorize paid transactions.

Social media platforms that fail to comply with the rules may face fines of as much as 3% of their global revenue, advertising bans and restrictions on internet bandwidth, under Turkey’s internet law.

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