Türkiye has adopted social media rules requiring age verification through a government-issued digital token and prohibiting access for children under 15. The regulation takes effect on November 1, while platforms have until March 31, 2027, to complete checks on existing accounts.
The system uses e-Devlet, Türkiye’s electronic government portal, to issue an age-verification token after checking the user’s identity. The token tells a platform only whether the person meets the 15-or-older or 18-or-older threshold. It does not transmit the person’s name, username or other identifying information to the service.
Platforms must obtain the token during account creation and check its authenticity. The rules allow additional risk-based methods during continued use. Where there is a reasonable suspicion that verification has been misused, a service must suspend access and require the user to obtain a new token.
The regulation requires age checks to be reliable, consistent, fair, accessible and auditable. Age-verification information is restricted to determining whether the user meets the applicable threshold, rather than identifying the user to the platform. Separate arrangements cover nonresident temporary visitors, including an exception-token process using passport information.
For users aged 15 to 17, platforms must provide a separate, age-appropriate service. Teen accounts must be private, with no option to make them public. The rules restrict livestreaming, personalized advertising and profiling, and require protections involving contact lists, screenshots and interface features such as continuous scrolling.
Parents must have access to Turkish-language controls covering screen time, purchases and other account settings. Users must also be able to appeal decisions through a free, accessible process that includes meaningful human review rather than relying entirely on automated decisions.
Türkiye previously advanced plans for e-Devlet-based social media identity verification. The newly issued regulation specifies threshold-only age tokens and operational obligations for services handling children’s accounts.
Other governments are pursuing different age thresholds. The Philippine Senate recently passed a proposal to exclude under-18s from designated high-risk services, although that measure still requires further legislative action.
Türkiye’s Cybersecurity Directorate will provide technical guidance for token integration. The regulation provides for warnings and a reasonable compliance period before penalties, with authorities considering the seriousness of the risk and the provider’s efforts to comply.
Sources: Official Gazette
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
