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Social media ban for under-15s begins November 1; 'seen' status and live streaming closed to ages 15-18
Regulation published in Official Gazette; existing accounts have until March 31, 2027 to comply.
A regulation published by the Presidency's Cyber Security Authority in the Official Gazette on October 10 takes effect on November 1: social network providers such as Facebook, Instagram, and X will no longer be able to open accounts for users under 15 years old.
Verification will be conducted through e-Government; the platform will request an age verification token during account creation. Existing accounts must transition to this system by March 31, 2027; by that date, accounts determined to belong to users under 15 will be closed.
Restrictions for the 15-18 age group are also concrete: according to an announcement by Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş following the October 12 cabinet meeting, users in this age range will not be able to record their screen, start live broadcasts, access 'seen' status in messaging, and infinite scroll and rewinding features will be removed.
Turkey has set a threshold lower than Australia's 16-year-old limit in social media age regulation; Australia's ban had been passed into law in November 2024. The regulation also details the platforms' technical compliance timeline.
Sources — how we know this
- PrimaryDiken