Social Media Ban for Under 15s in Turkey: Details of the New Draft Law

New Regulations for Digital Safety A new draft law prepared by the Ministry of Family and Social Services includes comprehensive regulations aimed at ensuring the safety of children in the digital world.
The proposal seeks to ban social media use for children under the age of 15.
For users over 15, platforms will be required to provide parental supervision tools and differentiated service models.
These parental control mechanisms will include critical features such as: Management of account settings Approval requirements for purchases and paid memberships Limitation of usage times Ratings and Representative Requirements for Digital Games The regulation also envisions fundamental changes for the digital gaming world.
Definitions for "game provider" and "game distributor" will be added to the law, making it mandatory for all games to be rated according to age criteria.
Distributors will be responsible for removing content from their platforms that has not been properly rated.
Additionally, foreign-based game distributors with high daily access from Turkey will be required to maintain an official representative in the country.
Heavy Fines and Bandwidth Throttling The Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) will be authorized to request any information regarding algorithms, corporate structures, and data processing mechanisms from social networks and game providers during inspection processes.
Companies will be required to respond to these requests within five days.
Organizations that fail to fulfill their obligations may face administrative fines ranging from 1 million TL to 30 million TL.
If violations continue, the draft proposes a gradual reduction of internet bandwidth by 50 percent and 90 percent.
Furthermore, the draft grants the BTK the authority to suspend or modify services deemed risky in emergency situations involving national security, public order, or the safety of life.