Credit : BRICS NEWS
ANKARA, November 1 – Turkey’s ban on social media for children under the age of 15 came into force on Sunday, requiring platforms to verify users’ ages through the government’s e-Devlet online gateway and to offer restricted accounts to teenagers aged 15 to 17.
The news aggregator BRICS News reported on X early on November 1, 2026, Malaysia time, that Turkey had banned teens under the age of 15 from social media. The rules are set out in a regulation on age verification and child-specific services by social network providers, published in Official Gazette No. 33396 on October 10, 2026, which takes effect on November 1, according to the Istanbul law firm ASY Legal and the daily Cumhuriyet.
No new accounts for under-15s
Under the regulation, social network providers accessible from Turkey, whether domestic or foreign, may not provide services to children under 15. Requests to open an account will be rejected if age verification shows the user is under 15, Cumhuriyet reported. Users’ ages will be confirmed with a digital token issued through e-Devlet, which Daily Sabah said will indicate whether a user has reached the thresholds of 15 and 18 without disclosing identifying information such as their name.
Existing accounts are covered by a transition period. Users must complete age verification by March 31, 2027, after which accounts found to belong to children under 15 will be closed, according to Cumhuriyet. The regulation was prepared by the Presidential Cyber Security Directorate, Daily Sabah reported, and breaches will be subject to the sanction provisions of Law No. 5651, according to ASY Legal.
Restrictions for 15 to 17-year-olds
Teenagers aged 15 to 17 can continue to use social media, but with limits. Their accounts will be private by default, they will not be able to start livestreams and they cannot be shown personalised advertising. Infinite scrolling, seen as a driver of screen addiction, will not be available on child accounts, and only accounts that a child follows will be able to send them messages, Cumhuriyet reported. Other users will not be able to see the follower and following lists of child accounts.
Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş said after a cabinet meeting that only users who confirm through e-Devlet that they are 15 or older will be able to open accounts. She added that screen recording would not be possible on child accounts and that “seen” receipts would be switched off, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.
Experts weigh in
Experts quoted by Daily Sabah questioned how effectively the rules could be enforced. One expert, Atalay, noted that children might get round age checks by using their parents’ accounts or virtual private networks, and warned they could hide harmful online experiences from their families for fear of punishment. Dr Mustafa Arslan, deputy dean of the Faculty of Communication at Ankara Medipol University, said age limits alone would not address the risks, and that success should be judged by how much risk to children is reduced “rather than simply by the number of accounts closed”.
Turkey’s move follows similar steps elsewhere. Australia began enforcing a minimum age of 16 for accounts on covered social media platforms on December 10, 2025, Daily Sabah noted. LNA will continue to follow developments.
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