Turkiye social media ban for under-15s starts 1 November: age checks and fines

Turkiye's ban on social media accounts for children under 15 takes effect on 1 November, after the government formally declared the start date in the official state journal on Saturday 10 October, Reuters reported via Business Recorder. From that day, social media companies must take "the necessary technical and administrative measures, including age verification" to keep under-15s off their platforms.

That leaves platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram three weeks to have age checks working for users in Turkiye.

What the Turkiye social media ban requires

The law was passed by parliament in April. Its main obligations, as reported by Reuters and by Al Jazeera at the time of the vote:

• No accounts for under-15s. Platforms must stop children under 15 from opening accounts.
• Age verification. Companies must install systems to check users' ages.
• Parental controls. Platforms must give parents tools to manage what their children can reach.
• No addictive design for children. "No service likely to produce an addictive effect in children may be offered," the law says.
• Fast action on harmful content. Companies must respond quickly to content deemed harmful.
• Gaming companies must appoint a legal representative in Turkiye.

Companies that do not comply face fines from Turkiye's communications regulator and cuts to their internet bandwidth.

Why Turkiye is doing it

The government says the aim is to protect children from screen addiction, lost sleep, bullying and eating disorders. The bill was adopted about a week after a 14-year-old boy killed nine students and a teacher at a middle school in Kahramanmaras in April; police were examining his online activity. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised address at the time that social media platforms had, "to put it bluntly, become cesspools."

The criticism

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) said children should be protected "not with bans but with rights-based policies." Rights groups say Turkiye already uses restrictions on online speech against LGBTQ communities, the media and the opposition, and many social media accounts have been blocked in recent weeks, Reuters reported. Online communications were also widely restricted during last year's protests over the jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, according to Al Jazeera.

Part of a global trend

Turkiye is following Australia, whose ban for under-16s began in December 2025; companies there revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children, Al Jazeera reported. Indonesia has started restricting under-16s from risky platforms, and Britain, France and Spain are considering or pushing similar rules.

For parents in Pakistan watching the debate, the Turkish rules are a working example of what an age limit looks like in practice: verification by the platform, controls for the parent, and penalties that fall on the company rather than the child. More on apps and online rules is on our technology desk.