Overview
- The law, formally published on Oct. 10, prohibits children under 15 from using covered social media and becomes enforceable on Nov. 1.
- Platforms must implement technical and administrative safeguards, including an age-check system tied to a government-issued ‘token’ described in Article 7.
- For users aged 15 and older the law bars services judged to have an “addictive effect,” which could force platforms to change features such as autoplay, recommendation engines, or notification rules.
- Rights groups and media defenders warn the measure raises privacy and free-expression risks because Turkey has a history of blocking accounts and platforms, including a week-long Instagram ban in 2024 and recent court-ordered blocks.
- The move aligns Turkey with other countries exploring age limits for social media but leaves open key questions about how verification will work, what data governments or firms will collect, and how compliance will be enforced.