Starting on 1 November, Turkey will enforce a strict social media ban barring children under the age of 15 from maintaining accounts, as reported by Bloomberg. Platforms must implement identity checks using a token from the country’s e-government system, known as e-Devlet, to verify user ages upon signup.
The sweeping regulatory overhaul follows amendments to the internet legislation adopted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in April, following a school shooting.
Mandatory Age Verification via e-Devlet
Under the rules published in the Official Gazette on 10 October 2026, social media companies must verify user ages at the point of account creation. According to reporting from Bosphorus News, this verification relies on an e-Devlet token that confirms whether a user meets the 15 or 18 age threshold without exposing underlying identity details to the platform itself.
Applications from any child under 15 must be summarily rejected. Platforms have a strict deadline of 31 March 2027 to audit existing user bases, cross-checking accounts against the state database and shutting down any profile belonging to an underage user.
The regulatory scope applies universally to a vast roster of digital services. Daily Sabah reported that the covered platforms include Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, and Reddit.
Stricter Defaults for Older Teenagers
While users aged 15 to 17 avoid an outright ban, their digital experience faces severe architectural constraints. Daily Sabah noted that accounts belonging to this older cohort must be set to private and filtered by default.
The rules prohibit personalized advertisements and live-streaming capabilities across these accounts. Furthermore, platforms must block users from taking screenshots of teen content, restrict messaging capabilities strictly to accounts the teen already follows, and disable endless scrolling feeds entirely.
Parents must receive comprehensive moderation tools to manage account settings, cap screen time, and approve online purchases.
Global Revenue Penalties and Compliance Enforcement
Non-compliant tech firms face severe financial and operational retaliation. Under Turkey’s internet law, companies that breach the new youth mandates face administrative fines scaling up to 3% of global annual revenue.
Additional punitive measures include sweeping advertising bans and targeted reductions in internet bandwidth delivered to the platform’s infrastructure. Turkey joins a growing international push to restrict youth access to social platforms, following Australia’s legislative precedent, though enforcement mechanisms differ significantly between the jurisdictions.
