Turkish Privacy Watchdog Fines TikTok

On 10 October 2026, the Regulation on the Provision of Differentiated Services for Children and Age Verification by Social Network Providers (the "Regulation") was published in the Official Gazette. Issued by the Cyber Security Presidency, the Regulation introduces mandatory age verification, restrictions on children's access to social networks and additional safeguards for users aged 15 to 17.

The Regulation will take effect on 1 November 2026 and allows until 31 March 2027 for existing accounts, and as the relevant sanction provisions of Law No. 5651 will apply to breaches of its obligations, social network providers should review their registration flows, child accounts and objection processes before the effective date.

While the widespread use of social media by children offers significant opportunities for communication and access to information, it also presents various risks, including exposure to harmful content, cyberbullying, online exploitation, and threats to the protection of personal data. These risks have increased the importance of legal regulations aimed at protecting children in the digital environment.

Turkey's new regulation mandates strict age verification and child-specific protections for social media platforms, prohibiting services to users under 15 and requiring segregated, privacy-enhanced accounts for those aged 15-17. Social network providers must implement parental controls, restrict targeted advertising and profiling, and establish transparent appeal mechanisms, with enforcement beginning November 2026.

This article examines the protection of minors in digital services through a comparative legal analysis directed at foreign platforms and families. It distinguishes access restrictions, age assurance, parental authority, personal-data processing and routes of challenge.

In January 2026, the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority (the "DPA") issued several public announcements and published six data breach notifications.

Türkiye'de kişisel verilerin yurt dışına aktarılması süreci, 10 Temmuz 2024'te yayımlanan yönetmelik ve 2026 yılı itibarıyla tam kapasite çalışan dijital bildirim...

Following numerous filings from Turkish citizens, residing abroad, concerning transfer and sharing of their personal data with institutions and organizations of other countries, the Personal Data Protection Authority ...

6698 sayılı Kişisel Verilerin Korunması Kanunu’nun (“KVKK”) 9 uncu maddesi kapsamında kişisel verilerin yurtdışına aktarımlarının uygulanması ile Kişisel Verileri Koruma Kurulu’nun (“Kurul”) beklediği uygun güvenceler hakkında kamuoyunun aydınlatılması amacıyla Kişisel Verileri Koruma Kurumu (“Kurum”) tarafından 2 Ocak 2025 tarihinde Kişisel Verilerin Yurt Dışına Aktarılması Rehberi (“Rehber”) yayımlanmıştır.

For many businesses in Türkiye, a single decision of the Personal Data Protection Board can now mean multimillion-lira fines, suspended data transfers, and immediate operational disruptions.

SPK, halka açık olmayan ortaklıkların halka arz başvurularını ilan edilen sıradan bağımsız olarak önceliklendirmek üzere üç alternatif kriter belirledi

With its decision No. 57/1708 dated 17.09.2026, the Capital Markets Board (the “CMB”) set out the liquidation procedures for the 131 investment funds established by Tera, A1 Capital, Atlas, Bulls, Hedef, Pardus and Pusula Portföy Yönetimi, whose liquidation had been ordered under its previous decision, and updated the relevant list of funds in the same decision.

On 16 September 2026, the money market funds founded by Pusula Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş. defaulted after failing to meet the cash redemption requests received from investors, triggering a sharp sell off on Borsa Istanbul. The BIST 100 index lost 5.54% that same day and hit a circuit breaker; the selling soon spread to Tera Portföy funds as well. It became apparent that the problem was not confined to those two firms but also extended to Hedef, Atlas, A1 Capital, Pardus and Bulls Portföy.

Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index came under significant selling pressure over three consecutive trading sessions between 15-17 September 2026. The index closed down 5.54% on 16 September, a move that triggered Borsa Istanbul’s index-linked circuit breaker, and negative momentum continued into the morning of 17 September. The sell-off was primarily triggered by a default at Pusula Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş., a portfolio management company, which failed to meet investor redemption requests from certain funds it manages in a timely manner. A similar liquidity problem emerged at Tera Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş., and this situation put pronounced pressure on the shares of both companies as well as on broader market indices.

The Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (“CMB” or the “Board”), through its principle decision No. i-SPK.15.2 (dated 03.09.2026 and numbered 54/1614) (“Resolution”), has lowered to 3% the minimum shareholding disclosure threshold under the Material Events Disclosure Commu-niqué No. II-15.1 (“Communiqué”). The Reso-lution will apply as from the end of the day on 11.09.2026.

Presidential Circular No. 2026/9, dated 17 August 2026, was published in the Official Gazette on 18 August 2026. The Circular requires public institutions and organisations to carry out the necessary work and provide the support needed to implement the Türkiye Artificial Intelligence Action Plan (the “Plan”), which sets out Türkiye’s artificial intelligence roadmap for the 2026–2030 period.

Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu (“Kurul”) 17.09.2026 tarihli ve 57/1708 sayılı kararı ile, bir önceki kararında tasfiyesine karar verilen ve Tera, A1 Capital, Atlas, Bulls, Hedef, Pardus ve Pusula Portföy Yönetimi tarafından kurulmuş toplam 131 yatırım fonunun tasfiye usul ve esasları belirlenmiş, ilgili fon listesi de aynı kararla güncellenmiştir.

16.09.2026 tarihinde, Pusula Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş.’nin kurucusu olduğu para piyasası fonlarının yatırımcılardan gelen nakit iade taleplerini karşılayamayarak temerrüde düşmesi, Borsa İstanbul’da sert bir satış dalgasını tetiklemiştir. BIST 100 endeksi aynı gün %5,54 değer kaybederek devre kesici uygulamasına konu olmuş, satış dalgası kısa sürede Tera Portföy fonlarında da görülmüş; sorunun yalnızca iki kurumla sınırlı kalmayıp Hedef, Atlas, A1 Capital, Pardus ve Bulls Portföy’ü de kapsadığı anlaşılmıştır.

The Regulation on the Provision of Child Specific Segregated Services and Age Verification by Social Network Providers (the “Regulation”) was published in the Official Gazette No. 33396 dated 10 October 2026. The Regulation sets out the rules applicable to domestic and foreign social network providers whose services are accessible from Türkiye, introducing new requirements concerning age verification, child-specific services and parental control mechanisms.

The Türkiye Emissions Trading System Regulation (the “Regulation”) was published in the Official Gazette No. 33353 dated August 27, 2026, and entered into force on the same date. Pursuant to the Climate Law No. 7552 (the “Climate Law”), the Regulation sets out the fundamental rules governing the scope of the Türkiye Emissions Trading System (“ETS”), greenhouse gas emissions permits, monitoring, reporting and verification, the allocation of allowances, and the operation of the market.