Türkiye passes sweeping digital law restricting social media access for under 15s

• Türkiye's parliament approved a ban on social media access for children under 15.
• Unrated games will not be banned but will automatically carry an 18+ classification.
• Türkiye's gaming market reached $1bn in domestic revenue in 2025.

Türkiye’s Grand National Assembly has approved key provisions of a sweeping digital regulation that will reshape how gaming platforms and social media operate in the country.

The law introduces mandatory age-rating systems, parental controls, and a requirement for foreign platforms with more than 100,000 daily users to appoint local representatives. 

It also bans social media access for children under 15, placing stricter obligations on platforms serving minors. Earlier drafts had proposed far harsher measures, including platform shutdown powers and bandwidth throttling of up to 90%. 

Following extensive lobbying by the Turkish Game Developers Association and global companies such as Google, Meta, and Roblox, the final version removes shutdown authority entirely and caps throttling at 50%.

Other changes include shifting age verification responsibilities from developers to platforms and removing mandatory data-sharing requirements for studios.

A stricter model for minors

The regulation positions Türkiye closer to countries like Australia, which have adopted stricter age-based access controls, rather than the EU’s safety-by-design approach.

Moreover, the Social Services Law amendment, approved by the Grand National Assembly, requires foreign gaming and social platforms with more than 100,000 daily users from Türkiye to appoint local representatives. 

Non-compliant platforms face fines ranging from ₺1 million ($22,300) to ₺30m ($667,000) before throttling kicks in.

According to the Türkiye Game Market Report 2025, the country's games market hit $1 billion in domestic revenue in 2025, with roughly 50m active gamers.