Social media ban introduced for children with regulation published in the Official Gazette
With the new regulation entering into force on November 1, 2026, social media use is banned for children under 15, while parental controls are made mandatory for ages 15-18.
With a new regulation published in the Official Gazette, children's social media use has been restricted to enhance digital safety. Within the scope of the regulation taking effect on November 1, 2026, access to social networks is completely banned for children under the age of 15, and technology companies are assigned new technical infrastructure responsibilities.
Scope of the Legal Regulation
With the new regulation published in the Official Gazette, strict rules for social network providers were implemented to ensure the digital safety of children. Important steps were taken in line with the decisions reported by Sözcü Newspaper.
Complete Ban for Under 15
According to the new regulation, children under the age of 15 are completely prohibited from using social media platforms. Social network providers will be held directly responsible for the flawless implementation of this rule and for preventing the relevant age group from accessing the platforms.
Parental Control for Youth
Different security measures will be put into effect for young people between the ages of 15 and 18 who are not subject to a complete access ban. Platforms will be obliged to implement parental control and special privacy settings on these users' accounts.
Technical Infrastructure and Restrictions
Social media platforms will activate the new restrictions determined for content recommendation algorithms and messaging functions within their own systems. The decision directly transfers the responsibility of parental digital monitoring to the technical infrastructure of the platforms.
Effective Date and Expectations
The regulation will officially enter into force on November 1, 2026. Until this date, technology companies are required to establish the technical infrastructure and audit mechanisms that can accurately determine the age of users.