Turkish Cybersecurity Directorate Issues Regulation On Children’s Access To Social Networks

On 10 October 2026, the Regulation on the Provision of Segregated Services for Children by Social Network Providers and on Age Verification (the “Regulation”) was published in the Official Gazette, introducing a new regulatory framework for children’s access to social networks that will take effect on 1 November 2026. The Regulation sets out requirements for social network providers on age verification, age-differentiated services, personal data protection, account security, content and advertising, parental controls and certain platform functionalities.

Under the new framework, social network providers may not provide services to children under 15. Users aged 15 to 18 may continue to access social network services, subject to enhanced privacy, security and child-protection requirements. These include mandatory age verification, restrictions on profiling and personalised advertising, stricter default privacy settings and limitations on content recommendations, messaging and certain