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Türkiye is preparing a legal ban on social media use for children who have not reached the age of 15.
The draft regulation, prepared by the Ministry of Family and Social Services, has been presented to the ruling party group in parliament and is expected to move forward for legislative review.
If enacted, children under 15 will be legally prohibited from using social media platforms.
The proposal amends Law No. 5651 on internet publications and crimes committed through online broadcasting.
The central provision states that social network providers cannot offer services to children under 15 and must take necessary measures, including age verification, to prevent access, as Deutsche Welle. Platforms will carry direct legal responsibility for enforcing the restriction.
For children aged 15 and above, the draft introduces differentiated youth services and mandatory parental control mechanisms.
Social network providers must supply clear and functional parental tools allowing parents to manage account settings, restrict paid transactions such as subscriptions or rentals, and monitor and limit usage time.
These obligations appear in the proposed amendment to the existing supplementary article of the law. Source reports confirm that the regulation creates binding duties rather than voluntary guidelines.
The draft also grants Türkiye authorities stronger intervention powers over online platforms. In urgent cases involving life safety, national security, public order, crime prevention, or public health, platforms must implement content removal or access blocking decisions within one hour.
Platforms with more than ten million daily users from Türkiye must comply immediately and ensure that removed content does not reappear, including through automated systems.
The draft law extends beyond social media into digital gaming.
It introduces legal definitions for game providers and game distributors and adds a new supplementary article dedicated to online games.
Game providers will be required to classify games according to age criteria. Game distributors must refuse to offer or distribute games that lack proper classification and must remove noncompliant content.
Parental control obligations apply to game distributors in parallel with social networks. Platforms must offer tools enabling parents to control account settings, require parental approval for paid transactions, and track and limit time spent in games. The text mirrors the parental control requirements imposed on social networks.
Foreign-based game distribution platforms with high daily access from Türkiye will be required to appoint a legal representative in the country and report representative details to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK).
BTK will have the authority to request corporate structure information, algorithmic systems, and data processing mechanisms from both game and social network providers. Companies must provide requested information within five days.
The draft establishes financial and technical penalties for noncompliance. Game distributors that fail to meet obligations may face administrative fines ranging from one million to ₺30 million ($690.85).
Continued violations may trigger bandwidth reduction first by 50% and later up to 90%. Once obligations are fulfilled, only one quarter of imposed fines will be collected and bandwidth restrictions will be lifted.
BTK will also gain authority to require risk assessments from social networks and game platforms. If services are deemed risky, BTK can order partial or full service suspension or mandate changes to service delivery.
The proposed legislation introduces strict execution timelines for content removal decisions. In urgent situations defined by the draft, platforms must apply removal or blocking decisions within one hour. The obligation applies most strongly to platforms with daily access exceeding ten million users from Türkiye.
Platforms must also implement preventive measures to stop removed content from being reposted. The draft explicitly mentions the use of artificial intelligence and automated systems to ensure compliance. Failure to meet these requirements exposes companies to escalating sanctions.
The draft law remains in proposal stage and awaits further parliamentary processing. However, the text presented to lawmakers establishes a clear direction toward aggressive regulation of youth online access, strengthened parental control systems, and expanded state authority over platform operations.
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