Türkiye will prevent social media users aged between 15 and 18 from livestreaming and from recording their screens, Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş announced on Oct. 13, adding a new layer to child protection rules that are due to enter into force on Nov. 1.
Göktaş outlined the measures to reporters after a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The regulation had already been announced with a ban on accounts for children under 15; the new briefing focused on the restrictions that will apply to older teenagers.
Age checks through e-Devlet
Anyone opening a social media account will have to confirm their age through e-Devlet, the government’s online services portal, and will then be given a digital code, according to the minister. Platforms will also be required to use their own technology to estimate the age of users and to keep checking after an account has been opened.
Where a platform suspects that an account belongs to a child under 15, it must suspend the account temporarily and send the user back to e-Devlet to verify their age again. Göktaş said these checks could be repeated so that children cannot reach social media through a parent’s account. Compliance will be monitored jointly by the government and the platforms.
Limits on messaging and design features
For teenage users, direct messages will be restricted to accounts the child already follows, and read receipts showing whether a message has been seen will be switched off.
The government also wants to remove design features it regards as encouraging excessive screen time, naming endless scrolling and functions that let users replay content from the start. Measures to reduce children’s constant exposure to advertising are also planned.
Social media companies have until March 31, 2027, to complete the transition and meet all of the requirements, the minister said.
The briefing did not set out the penalties for platforms that fail to comply, nor how the livestreaming and screen-recording restriction will be technically enforced.
Sources
Photo: mikemacmarketing / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
