Presidency'زلs Opinion to YÖK on Public Servants' Social Media Revenues

The Presidency sent a letter to the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) stating that civil servants earning income through digital platforms by producing content or developing applications falls within the scope of the trade ban under Law No. 657.

How the Process Began

On June 17, YÖK requested an opinion from the Presidency regarding the legal status of academics' activities on digital media.

Following this request, an evaluation report was prepared by the Revenue Administration of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance on August 20, 2026.

The Presidency's Opinion

Based on the prepared evaluation, the Directorate General of Personnel and Principles of the Presidency's Secretariat General communicated its official letter dated September 2, 2026, to YÖK.

The letter clarified the legal status of the revenues obtained by civil servants from activities such as content creation and mobile application development.

Notification to Universities

YÖK forwarded this official opinion letter from the Presidency to all state universities for informational purposes.

Thus, the framework regarding digital income processes for academics and civil servants within universities has become clear.

Article 28 of Law No. 657

Article 28 of the Civil Servants Law No. 657 prohibits civil servants from engaging in trade and other profit-generating activities.

The relevant article explicitly stipulates that civil servants cannot engage in work that would require them to be considered merchants or artisans.

Tax Exemption and Evaluation

There is a special tax exemption for social content creators and mobile application developers in the Income Tax Law.

However, according to the Presidency's evaluation, the exemption regulation in tax legislation does not mean that civil servants can generate income from these activities.

Scope of the Regulation

The content of the resulting document does not contain a general ban completely prohibiting civil servants from using social media.

The regulation fundamentally addresses civil servants generating income as a result of their activities on digital platforms and the legal status of this.