Türkiye has introduced new social media regulations aimed at strengthening protections for children and young users online.

Joining countries such as Australia and France in adopting similar measures, the regulations focus on enhancing safety, increasing platform accountability and ensuring faster intervention against harmful content.

Under the new rules, minors under age 15 will not be able to register on social media platforms, with companies required to implement effective age verification systems.

Providers will also be required to offer differentiated, age-appropriate services for users 15 and over.

Step-by-step enforcement mechanism

The regulations introduced stronger parental control mechanisms, requiring tools to manage account settings and limit screen time.

Social media companies will be obliged to take steps to prevent deceptive advertising and reduce online risks.

In urgent cases related to national security, large platforms must comply with content removal orders within one hour.

Stricter obligations will apply to platforms with more than 10 million daily users in Türkiye.

To prevent repeated violations, platforms will be required to use artificial intelligence to ensure that previously removed illegal content is not re-uploaded.

The regulations established a step-by-step enforcement mechanism.

If obligations are not fulfilled, new advertising on the platform will be banned.

If violations persist, authorities may seek court approval to reduce the platform’s bandwidth by 50 percent and ultimately by up to 90 percent.

Gaming platforms have also been included, with rules prohibiting games that are not properly age-rated.

Foreign-based gaming platforms with more than 100,000 daily users will be required to appoint a legal representative in the country.

The regulation aims to create a safer, more transparent digital environment, with the rules entering into force 6 months after publication.