Türkiye Tightens Social Media Rules to Safeguard Youth

(MENAFN) Türkiye has rolled out new regulations targeting social media platforms, aiming to enhance protections for children and younger users, according to reports. With this step, the country aligns itself with others such as Australia, France, Greece, and Portugal that have implemented comparable policies.

The measures are designed to improve online safety for minors, increase the responsibility of digital platforms, and ensure quicker action against harmful material.

Under the updated framework, individuals under the age of 15 will be prohibited from creating social media accounts. Companies are now required to establish reliable age verification mechanisms to enforce this rule.

Platforms must also introduce tailored services suited to different age groups, particularly for users aged 15 and above, ensuring that content and features are appropriate for their developmental stage.

Parental oversight is another key component of the regulations. Service providers will need to offer tools that allow parents to control account settings, approve or block in-app purchases, and monitor or limit the amount of time their children spend online.

In addition, companies are obligated to address misleading or harmful advertising and take steps to minimize online risks, especially for younger audiences.

The rules also impose strict timelines for responding to dangerous content. In urgent situations involving national security or public safety, major platforms must act on content removal or access restrictions within one hour.

These enhanced requirements will mainly apply to platforms with more than 10 million daily users within Türkiye.

To reduce repeat violations, companies must deploy artificial intelligence and automated systems to prevent previously removed illegal content from being uploaded again.

Furthermore, platforms will face tighter compliance standards, including the obligation to provide requested data to authorities promptly—within a maximum of 15 days—and to conduct assessments evaluating the broader societal impact of their services.

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