New Rules Introduced to Protect Children via Social Media Regulation
With the regulation published in the Official Gazette, age verification and anti-addiction restrictions have been introduced for social networks.
With the new social media regulation published in the Official Gazette, age verification has been made mandatory to safely protect children in the digital world, addictive features have been removed, and parental control tools have been activated.
The Beginning of a New Era
A new era is beginning in social media regulation, which aims to ensure children are in a safer environment in the digital world, through a new regulation published in the Official Gazette. It was announced that various obligations have been imposed on social network providers within the scope of the regulation to offer safe services appropriate for children's age groups. Domestic and foreign-sourced social network providers accessible from Turkey will also be evaluated within this scope.
Mandatory Age Verification
According to the new regulation, social network services cannot be provided to children under the age of 15, while safe and segregated services will be applied for children between the ages of 15 and 18. Age verification procedures are planned to be conducted securely through the e-Government Gateway (e-Devlet Kapısı). The system, which will be mandatory for new account openings, will be based on verifying users' age ranges and must be completed for existing accounts by March 31, 2027.
Parental Control Tools
Social media platforms are now required to offer parental control tools, aiming to enable parents to safely monitor their children's activities. Parental control mechanisms will cover areas such as account and feature settings, paid transactions, and usage duration. Thus, control opportunities will be provided over payment-requiring transactions such as in-app purchases, rentals, and paid memberships.
Removal of Addictive Factors
Certain features will be restricted for users between the ages of 15 and 18, and addictive interactions such as infinite scrolling or continuous looping will be removed. Additionally, taking screenshots will be prevented, the authority to broadcast live streams will be limited, and messages will only be allowed from followed accounts with read receipts turned off.