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Twitch has stopped children under 15 in Türkiye from creating new accounts and says it will shut down existing accounts held by Turkish users in that age group in February, making it one of the first major platforms to announce compliance with a new Turkish law ahead of its Nov. 1 start.
The Amazon-owned livestreaming service announced the changes Thursday through its Twitch Support account on X.
It said the move was made to comply with Turkish law. The new account restriction took effect Oct. 29.
The minimum age for Twitch users has been 13 worldwide. In Türkiye, it is now effectively 15.
The company said details on how users’ ages will be verified are available on its help page. It did not say how it would treat users aged 15 to 18, who face limits on live streaming under the new rules.
The rules, issued Oct. 10 and drafted by the Cybersecurity Presidency, apply to all domestic and foreign social networks and online gaming platforms accessible from Türkiye.
Under the system, people opening new accounts will prove their age using a token issued through the government’s E-Devlet portal, without handing over identity details to the platform.
Existing accounts must complete age verification at least once by March 31, 2027. Twitch’s February deadline for under-15 accounts falls ahead of that date.
Twitch, which Amazon bought in 2014, is widely used in Türkiye for gaming streams and chat channels. Its relationship with the country has at times been rocky.
In February 2024, Türkiye’s National Lottery Administration blocked access to the platform, citing gambling-related broadcasts. The ban was lifted shortly afterward.
The latest change does not close Twitch in Türkiye, a question some users have begun searching online. It affects only the platform’s youngest users.
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