Age verification requirement for social media went into effect today; accounts under 15 now prohibited

The regulation published in the Official Gazette on October 10 went into effect as of today: social media platforms can no longer open accounts for children under 15 years old. Age verification will only be conducted through e-Government (turkiye.gov.tr) or the official e-Government mobile application.

According to the system announced by Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, the user will receive a digital token from e-Government and transmit it to the relevant platform. The platform will only see whether the person has reached 15 years of age and whether they have reached 18; no other personal data will be transferred. Account creation requests from users identified as under 15 years old will be rejected, and existing accounts will be closed.

Accounts for ages 15-17 will have live streaming and personalized advertising prohibited; the infinite scroll feature will be removed; children will only be able to receive messages from accounts they follow.

The Presidential Cybersecurity Office also warned citizens against fake verification attempts: they were instructed not to trust redirects coming through phone calls, text messages, or third-party applications, and not to share e-Government passwords or card information with anyone. Existing accounts must complete age verification procedures by March 31, 2027 at the latest.